Friday, October 03, 2003

The Axis of Literature Dead on arrival
Literary editors can't get enough of the killer preview - which means every major new book is dead on arrival.
Not knowing what the rest of the world is thinking and writing is both dangerous and boring.

· Lost in Translation [Guardian ]

Do Book Reviews Matter?
I believe we are at best traffic wardens. It's a free-for-all out there. I have seen books praised to the skies that have scarcely troubled the check-out clerks at Borders or Hatchards. I have watched books comprehensively ignored by The Observer, the Sunday Times and the Sunday Telegraph being lugged out of Waterstone's, Books etc, Ottakars and Menzies by the bagload.
· Bagload [The Observer (UK) 09/28/03viaPublisherLunch]
· Amazon's influence: Authors, artists court the online-retail giant [SeattleSource ]