The Book Is Dead (Long Live the Book) (New South Books) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This slender book can be read in one sitting by those so inclined. However, I think it will take far longer to consider the points Sherman Young makes.
'The book is dead because the book trade is about selling objects not ideas.'

Writing as a consumer, many of us have become caught up in the debate about presentation. Discussion about tradition versus technology is important, but it is surely not the critical issue. For some of us, the joy of owning and reading a printed book will always be important. But generally it is the intrinsic content rather than the physical presentation that is crucial.
Why do some of us value books so highly? As Mr Young points out, if you can't find a book (or get to it) then it ceases to exist.
Why aren't people reading books? If you read this book, you will be presented with a number of well presented and logical possibilities. And yes, technology is both part of the problem and part of the solution.
Highly recommended to all of those with an interest in both the future of books and of reading.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith

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Sometime in the late twentieth century the book died. Sherman Young, passionate book lover and a consumer and producer of digital technology, is on a mission to make book culture matter again. Shirking nostalgia and without apology, The Book is Dead (Long Live the Book) investigates the economics and technological demands of publishing, making a case for books and reading all the while. His bold and exciting book will inspire readers, non-readers and publishers to put books center again, even if they're not books as we now know them.