The NYT has gone on record to say it "regrets publishing" a recent essay, "Confessions of a Book Abuser", by Ben Schott due to "certain resemblances to passages in someone else's essay". That is the gentle way to say plagiarism.That someone else is Anne Fadiman whose essay "Never Do That to a Book" appeared in her 1998 book and soon to be bestseller "Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader".I had read Schott's essay when it came out and had begun a post on it titled “Sir, that is no way to treat a book!” which is one of the...
The Prince of the Literati: Glenn Horowitz and Bookselling
There is no one like Glenn Horowitz. He is the loose cannon of the bookselling world.He is not a member of the most prestigious organization of Antiquarian Booksellers, the ABAA, yet he handles some of the choicest literary material that appears on the market.Rachel Donadio profiles Horowitz in this Sunday's NYT Book Review section.What makes Horowitz so successful?He is a businessman and a bookseller. It is not a question of whether he loves or appreciates books it is the fact that he can negotiate and seal the deal that makes everyone happy. He understands that these days it is simply...
Technology is slow to reach the world of books?
"The web revolution that is turning whole industries from music to television upside down has been slow to reach the cosy world of books - apart, that is, from the pioneering bookseller Amazon."This is how Victor Keegan begins his article for the Guardian "A New Chapter for Books on the Web"Really? Slow to reach the world of books? I am not sure where Mr. Keegan has been or what forces are behind the publication of this article but I think he has it all backwards.The book industry has been at the bleeding edge of the cataclysmic changes of technology and...
The Evolution of a Beautiful Space
El Ateneo: The Largest Bookstore in Latin AmericaIn 1919 a young man named Max Glucksman decided to construct a theater that would be both grand and splendid. Originally a performance space it was converted to a cinema in the late 20's and was the first place in the region to show movies with sound. For a time it was also home to Radio Splendid and a recording studio, Odeon Records, that recorded some of the early Tango greats.Now housed in the perfectly restored building is the bookstore El Ateneo.All the original features have been preserved. The stage is now a...
The First Cracks in Google’s Attempt to Digitize the World
Peter Brantley is the director of strategic technology for academic information systems at the University of California, one of the premier libraries that have entered into a relationship with Google to digitize their holdings.Here is some of what he had to say about the initiative:-it was mistake-The goal is undeniably grand, and good.The means have left much to be desired.-We poisoned our hand before we played it-For the love of selfish confidence, we spoke neither our fortune nor our misgivings with our neighbors or our friends-In our selfishness, and wrapped in the fears we were given, we re-wrote and redefined...