Sounds and Fury

之前提到紐約時報報導美國報紙中的書評版正岌岌可危，許多報紙（尤其是地方性的）
不是刪減版面，就是取消書評版。這主要是因為傳統平面報紙正面臨網路的威脅，但這對知識與文化生產和流通的影響何其深遠。所以，美國的書評人組織The National Book Critics Circle正發動一個搶救書評的運動。
這是他們的blog和相關文章。


Update:
在這個運動中，也引起傳統書評人和書評部落格的爭吵。前者認為後者仍是不夠份量的，不夠精緻的，所以需要傳統報紙提供書評版面。但是，後者則批評報紙的書評版口味太主流保守。
（恩，作為一個出版兩本書都不太受報紙書評版歡迎的作者，我很同意後者的批評， 呵呵。所以，我相信一個好的部落格的眼光與力量不下於傳統報紙。當然這兩者不應該是互斥。）




五月下旬在紐約的美國書展會有三場有趣的討論會。

THE INTELLECTUAL HISTORY OF THE BOOK REVIEW: A Bookforum Event
Thursday, May 31st, Paula Cooper Gallery, 521 West 21st Street, 4:30 PM- 5:30 PM

Where did the book review come from? What form has it taken? Who has read it and what purpose has it served in American arts and letters? Join Bookforum editor and NBCC member Eric Banks for a multi-faceted look at the genealogy of the popular book review. Panelists include James Shapiro, professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University; Joyce Carol Oates, National Book Award winning novelist and critic; Lindsay Waters, Executive Editor for the Humanities, Harvard University Press; Jonathan Galassi, president and publisher, Farrar, Straus & Giroux.


ETHICS IN BOOK REVIEWING: The More Things Change.....
Friday, June 1, Javits Center, Room 1E06, 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM

NBCC board member and Philadelphia Inquirer literary critic Carlin Romano will moderate what promises to be a lively discussion on the practice and ethics of book reviewing, drawing from results of a newly updated NBCC survey of hundreds of working book critics. Panelists will include Sam Tanenhaus, editor of the New York Times Book Review; Christopher Hitchens, author and critic; Francine Prose, author, critic and president of PEN America Center; David L. Ulin, editor of the Los Angeles Times Book Review; and John Leonard, Ivan R. Sandrof Award-winning critic.


THE CRISIS IN NEWSPAPER REVIEWING: Where are we going, where have we been?
Sunday, June 3rd, Javits Center, 1E11, 10:00AM -- 11:00 AM

Newspaper book reviews are in a state of change. Where are we going? Where have we been? Join the NBCC for a panel which cuts to the heart of much recent debate. Panelists include Bob Mong, editor of the Dallas Morning News; Melissa Turner, incoming features editor of the Atlanta Journal Constitution; Heidi Julavits, founding editor of The Believer; Stacey Lewis, publicist of City Lights Books; Maud Newton of maudnewton.com; Oscar Villalon, editor of the San Francisco Chronicle Book Review; and Arthur Salm, editor of the San Diego Union Tribune Book Review.