Thursday, March 08, 2007

Against Blandness

NEWSPAPER book review sections across the country are notably unexciting, targeting a relatively small audience of upper-middle class cultured types; a Sunday morning matron and patron of the arts leisurely browsing through the arts pages while resting comfortably on a sofa next to Fluffy the Cat. It doesn't take much to stir this person. Each generically bland review she reads safely never does.

Newspapers of course make no attempt to move out of this stale and comfortable ghetto of the sleepy and well-educated-- which is why book review sections across America are dwindling or vanishing.

But wait! The solution to the blandness is here. Frank Walsh and myself will soon be starting a new ULA Books Section, containing gonzo reviews and commentaries guaranteed to attract new readers. (Standard run-of-the-mill reviews have other outlets.) We'll present with each new post not a review, but an experience. It will be like no other book review section anyplace. Stay tuned for more details.

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