Fahrenheit L.A. Times

So I read today that the L.A. Times has finally done in the book review section. Sad, albeit not unexpected. Short sighted, and just another bad omen for the print world. Bad news for readers, bad news for people who like to sit at counters in coffee shops learning about books and the book business. It was a good section, and it paid attention to western writers, and not only to their books, but also -- used them to good effect as reviewers. I grew up on it and remember the many incarnations, from stodgy to hip, but always righteous. Steve Wasserman, the book editor who was responsible for huge improvements a few years ago, commented that the move was a "philistine blunder that...will further wound the long-term fiscal health of the newspaper."
He's dead right. But philistine blunders are the order of the day now in American life. A bad time out on the dream coast for readers. When I was a kid there was Hunters Books, Westwood Books, not to mention Dutton's and its short-lived Beverly Hills off-shoot. (Beverly Hills now prefers crap retail to old school decency -- vulgarity and flash over the real deal. It used to be a village, and a romantic one at that.) Book Soup on Sunset, where I used to work through the early and mid 1980's, used to be open until midnight. Now that Tower Records has closed, street traffic is vastly reduced and the doors close early, like so much else in the city of angels.
So, it's left to the perpetually smart/dumb/smart/dumb L.A. Weekly to continue to champion books, and offer something to local readers and local writers.

Sad part? Nobody's gonna miss the thing. Nobody misses anything anymore. Until it's too late.

Comments

[Bearymore]

Criminal is what it is. And today they announced they're canning the Sunday Opinion section. That's going to put them right up there with the giants of journalism like The National Enquirer. They've also ended the Thursday Guide section and, after a 101 year tenure, the Sunday Real Estate section. Of course the brand new and totally inane Image section soldiers on -- that's what Chicago thinks LA wants. And the reason I should continue to buy the paper is ?????

[waiguoren]

When profit becomes not just the primary motive for human activity, but the only motive, well, gang, you'll find yourself always getting less than you pay for.

[TovSquirrel]

"Print is dead."
--Dr. Egon Spengler (1984)

[skeptique]

I just finished reading 'Night and Day' by Woolf, and as often happens when I reach the end of an enthralling book, I'm feeling a bit abandoned. Reading, like writing, can be a lonesome business, especially in LA, where the mere mention of a 'book' can illicit disapproving glares from your neighbors. It's as if one is resented for having the pomposity to read.

It's a matter of taste and economics. Taste, the capacity for style and grace, the desire for beauty, has been relegated to a mere system of measurement. Rather than something that is self-evident, taste is measured materialistically. I think this is where the anti-aesthetic becomes political. Our popular culture is laden with the equivalent of transfat in our food. It doesn't matter if it kills you, what matters is that it tastes good (sic), and that it's produced as cheaply as possible. Sure there's a market for organic produce, but only 'uppity' people shop at Wholefoods.

And Wholefoods doesn't advertise with the LAT.

[neoprimordial]

As usual, you hit the bullseye, and echo my sentiments exactly. The book business is going to the dogs, or should I say the barbarians? Modern technology, ignorance, and corporate finance are mostly to blame, I'd say. We're in a transition period and there's no telling where we'll ultimately end up, but whatever happens, we'll always have Hemingway and Shakespeare and Updike and yourself. The form may change but the substance remains the same. We'll miss all the familiar places eventually, but we'll make new ones. We'll manage.

[BottomLine2008]

Oh, who cares?

Lousy paper.

Let it die finally.

[marignymitch]

Tribune execs are short-sighted. Cut staff entirely and run only wire copy, I say. That'll save bundles of cash.

[KarenM]

"But philistine blunders are the order of the day now in American life."

What will finally become of newspapers if they continue to wage war on their natural base... Readers? Do they really think they have some other constituency? They're not like the telecoms, after all, with a congress ready and primed to prop them up.

[MrsWakely]

by the way - robbie - where are you on SAG? we need you. don't forget us. want to get up to speed? read my reply as T-rex on deadlinehollywood to "unite for strengths" missive.

[murrieta]

I finally gave up and called to cancel the LA Times last week. When I called the person asked me if there was anything she could do to get me to reconsider. I replied - stop cutting staff and content from the paper - but you won't. She just said that sadly I was correct and I was just one of many calling with the same thoughts..

[Halsey]

Like an earlier poster..I too stopped my subscription to the LA Times after "they" started firing real reporters...I mean..what's the use? I too, would read the book review..then..go to the library and put my name on a wait list for when a particular book was available..it was exciting!...

Maybe I'll start getting the Sunday WAPO....just for a little brain exercise...

[QueenCeleste]

So sad. I read the L.A. Times for years and always looked forward to the book review section.

And Hunters Books... I had one in my city and just loved it. The world is going to hell in a handbasket in far too many ways.

[ellwood]

Try Comedy Central's Daily Show & Colbert Report. No lack of very interesting authors & books featured on those shows, for those who actually have time to read.

Not affiliated with either show, just a satisfied viewer.

[LiberalBuzz]

WHAT!?!?!

The only sections I ever looked forward to were the Calendar, the National and the BOOK REVIEWS!!!

WHAT is wrong with those people??!!??

Oh and the Sunday Funnies.

[Paul]

I cancelled my subscription to the LA Times after 35 years because it has become a worthless rag.