Cheapened by the CheckoutHere's the subhead from another article linked by
Booktrade News Digest:
"The mountain of discounted books at supermarkets isn't democratising publishing but dumbing it down"
You can read it
hereGag me. God forbid people should be able to buy books for less so that people with less money can buy more books. God forbid they actually buy books they might be interested in reading instead of what someone thinks they *should* be reading. This writer regrets the fact that when grocery stores offer discounted books, they offer the latest best-sellers instead of, say, the classics or something. Well duh!
The stores don't want to put something there that won't sell. They're risking their money on what they put there, especially with so few slots to fill. People waiting in the line at the grocery store aren't hoping to buy "A Farewell to Arms." They buy stuff that jumps out, like Dan Brown. That's not saying they won't read the classics sometime, although many will read them only in school, when they're forced to do so. Considering how schools teach the classics, do you blame them?)
The article ends with "DJ Taylor is a novelist and critic." Yeah, I'm gonna rush out and buy *that* person's novels. ;-)
