29 May 2007

Buring books in Missouri: A protest

Sometimes, you got to do something drastic to get people’s attention. And book burning usually gets just that. On Sunday, Tom Wayne, owner of Prospero’s Bookstore in Missouri held a book burning. But unlike plot line from Ray Bradbury’s classic novel Fahrenheit 451, this burning had nothing to do with an oppressive government, but with a man fed up with American’s who no longer read for pleasure.

"Tom Wayne, the owner for the past 10 years of Prospero’s Bookstore, a used bookstore in the Missouri city, lit fire to the books, after his attempts to thin out his inventory of 20,000 used and antiquarian titles failed. According to Wayne, local libraries and thrift stores he contacted with offers to donate books refused them, telling him they had no room."

Publishers Weekly

On a personal note, I understand Wayne’s frustration. Having worked in a bookstore for nearly 20 years, the decline in sales cannot always be blamed on lack of product. Hell, there are thousands of books published each month. But today, most people think that reading tabloids and People magazine constitute reading.

And what books they do buy are tawdry novels of James Patterson, he of the 16pt font letters and page and half chapters. Literature is facing it’s a dark time as people claim they have no time to read, but will rearrange their schedule to watch American Idol and Dancing With the Stars.

While James Patterson, Nora Roberts and Dan Brown fill a hole of light fiction, has anyone picked up a book by Joyce Carol Oates? A prolific author yes, but each book is filled with many wonderful scenes.

Even Stephen King, in an article back in April in EW, claimed that the publishers where basically kowtowing to critics:

"As of March 26, Fieldwork was No. 24,571 on the Amazon best-seller list, and not apt to go much higher. The reason why is illustrative of how the book biz became the invalid of the entertainment industry, and why fiction sales are down across the board (with the possible exception of chick lit). Critics, with their stubborn insistence that there's a difference between ''literature'' and ''popular fiction,'' are part of the problem, but the publishers themselves, who have bought into this elitist twaddle, are also to blame."

Entertainment Weekly

American’s are missing out on the great work that is out there, once again claiming their busy lifestyle prevents them from reading anything heavier than James Patterson. But like most things, it’s all empty rhetoric. Turn the TV off, stop wasting your money on needless sequels to Spider-Man 3, Shrek the Third and Pirates of the Caribbean: God This is Not the Last Film. Turn the damn computer off, pick up a newspaper, a novel (but not James Patterson), or, God forbid., a nonfiction book of the historical genre (or any other nonfiction genre).

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