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In America in recent months, there has been an outbreak of agonising about the state of book reviewing. Several long articles—and one widely reviewed book: Faint Praise, by Gail Pool—have appeared proclaiming the genre to be if not moribund, then at least in a condition of semi-decrepitude. These concerns have been prompted, most immediately, by the slimming down of book review sections in the US print media. In the last few years, the books pages of most major US papers—as well as a host of smaller ones—have had their word counts slashed, their commissioning budgets cut and their staff downsized. Only the New York Times Book Review appears unscathed. But the issue goes deeper than this. At play are anxieties about the vitality of literary culture, the relationship between print and digital media, even the long-term survival of book-reading itself. Throughout its history, the book review has occupied an uncertain position in relation to the body of literature, being perceived, alternatively, as a nourishing agent and a pest. Growing fears for the genre’s survival in the US have, at least, gone some way to resolving this issue. Most people agree that if people stop writing about books, books will be worse off.
In Britain, so far, there haven’t been any similar eruptions of concern. While this may partly be because British journalists are less fond of navel-gazing than their American counterparts (and let’s not forget that book reviewing, as traditionally conceived, is a branch of journalism), it is also because, on the face of it, book reviewing in this country is in fairly robust health. The downscaling that has affected US papers hasn’t occurred here. On the contrary, if anything the trend has been for papers to expand their books coverage, with several—notably the Guardian and the Times—launching stand-alone books sections that are sort of mini-literary magazines in their own right. Newspapers have proved adept at co-opting new trends in book reading and commentary: some have launched literary blogs and book clubs; many sponsor prizes and festivals. A lively chatter surrounds the British book scene, of which newspaper review sections are a central part.
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