"But people still love books. Period.”

That's Andrew Altschul, books editor of The Rumpus, in an interview with Critical Mass about reviewing books online and in a time of transformation for the literary world. There's a lot to mine in here, but in general, I like where Altschul's coming from. As in this:

There is so much fantastic new literature being written in this country, and the vast majority of it goes unnoticed because there are so few venues for coverage. And the venues that do exist tend to have a herd mentality. They all want to review the books by writers who are already successful, already bestsellers - or, the "hot young thing" that some major publisher has foolishly thrown a $500,000 advance at (and who will almost inevitably not earn that advance back). You see the same handful of titles being reviewed everywhere. But in between the long-established writers and the celebrity debut du jour is where the most interesting writing can be found, and we felt almost an obligation to make sure people found out about it.

This strikes a chord in me--though I'd modify that sense of "obligation" to include "joy." It is a joy to talk and write about fantastic literature out there that hasn't yet gotten the attention it deserves. It is a joy to help connect readers with books they will fall in love with, or writers with readers who will love what they do. In the scope of my own website, nothing swells my heart more than when folks tell me they picked up a book they wouldn't have otherwise because of something they read here. And, like Altschul, even though there's plenty of "mainstream" literature that I admire a great deal, I feel a sort of calling in spending more time with books from independent publishers, from lesser-known writers, or that are coming out of translation--that is, books I am also interested in, but that are still marginalized in the increasingly narrow mainstream book coverage. And this is worthwhile not just as a counter-balance to what's already out there, but because, frankly, it's fun. When I give someone a book, it's because I think they will love it, after all, and not because I think they "should" read it.

More from Altschul:

The other major difference is that The Rumpus doesn't care if a book has been out for a while. There's an obsession in publishing about getting reviews in the weeks right around publication date. It probably makes marketing sense, but it's really quite toxic for a healthy book culture. So if a book is out a month, or six months, or a year, and someone wants to review it, we're perfectly happy to do that, too.

I agree with this 100%. Certainly books that I write about on Isak are published anywhere form last week to centuries ago; it depends on the natural trajectory of my reading, and I feel no compulsion to alter it for the sake of marketing schedules of new titles. Something seems strained and even dishonest about a reading life delineated by publication dates. I'm grateful to Altschul for calling out the larger pattern as not being conducive to a healthy, (or, I'd add, expansive) book culture.

Finally, this little call to arms from Altschul:

But as far as I can tell, the main reason (people review books for The Rumpus) is because they love books, and they want to contribute to the conversation about books. It's the same reason things like Goodreads and Shelfari are so popular--people still love books, and they can't help but talking about books.

This is what's so frustrating when you talk to people in the mainstream publishing industry. They're so sure no one loves books anymore--because the corporate accountants are telling them they can't hit a 15% profit margin. And so they're bending over backwards to find the magic bullet: Is it e-books? Can the iPad save us? What if we get Sarah Palin to write a vampire novel? But people still love books. Period. And they want to talk about them. They want to be a part of that conversation. And it's a much more important, healthier conversation for us to be having as a society than talking about stock options or Grand Theft Auto or America's Next Top Model all the time.

Comments

[Jacob Corvidae]

Fun! And I find it ironic that 'altschul' means 'old school' in german....

[Anna Clark]

That's hilarious and wonderful. Oh, the implications...