I read and enjoyed Gone Girl when it first came out. But I don't want to read another one like it. I hate those comparisons and spend my time looking for books that are original. One reason I follow the Tournament of Books and ask for recommendations here. No way can software create something unique and interesting.
Guilty as charged, Your Honor. I feel so comfortable when I'm in Elizabeth Strout's universe. There are familiar people and places, and it makes me feel cozy and secure somehow. I've read all her books except for Oh, William!, the latest. As for movies, I used to love them, and I still do love some of them, but I just can't with the comic book movies, not that there's anything wrong with them, or with comic books (certainly not - I love some comics) or the people who prefer them. Your point is taken, though, and is a sad commentary. I get it that movie producers and book publishers want to make money, but it does seem like the focus is getting too narrow.
This is a great idea! -- "I’d set aside a pot of money and task someone of experience and good taste (someone like Maris Kreizman), and tell them every year to bring me a half-dozen books unlike anything I’d read before" -- I can't believe that margins are so tight at the big publishers that they couldn't afford to take this risk.
It's interesting that the manufacturers of supermarket and dep't store consumer products are continually 'innovating' (even if those innovations appear trivial). A walk down the cereal or snack food aisles, for example, is enlightening (and sometimes, frightening!).
All the more important, then, to keep the indie publishers in business, where business is still in service to art.
That's a great piece from Gioia. Your point about products of manufacturers is really interesting, and I hadn't considered that angle at all, but as you raise it, a huge part of the businesses is literally "product development." When I worked in market research we'd often be testing something new to see if there was consumer interest. Now, books aren't the same thing as Oreos, but releasing unusual or original books would be its own form of product development, investing in that next thing that may turn into something big. It really is short sighted not to consider that part of the business.
I read and enjoyed Gone Girl when it first came out. But I don't want to read another one like it. I hate those comparisons and spend my time looking for books that are original. One reason I follow the Tournament of Books and ask for recommendations here. No way can software create something unique and interesting.
Guilty as charged, Your Honor. I feel so comfortable when I'm in Elizabeth Strout's universe. There are familiar people and places, and it makes me feel cozy and secure somehow. I've read all her books except for Oh, William!, the latest. As for movies, I used to love them, and I still do love some of them, but I just can't with the comic book movies, not that there's anything wrong with them, or with comic books (certainly not - I love some comics) or the people who prefer them. Your point is taken, though, and is a sad commentary. I get it that movie producers and book publishers want to make money, but it does seem like the focus is getting too narrow.
I recently read Ted Gioia is addressing this situation, too -- "14 Warning Signs That You Are Living in a Society Without a Counterculture"
https://tedgioia.substack.com/p/14-warning-signs-that-you-are-living
Two canaries in a deep dark coal mine....
This is a great idea! -- "I’d set aside a pot of money and task someone of experience and good taste (someone like Maris Kreizman), and tell them every year to bring me a half-dozen books unlike anything I’d read before" -- I can't believe that margins are so tight at the big publishers that they couldn't afford to take this risk.
It's interesting that the manufacturers of supermarket and dep't store consumer products are continually 'innovating' (even if those innovations appear trivial). A walk down the cereal or snack food aisles, for example, is enlightening (and sometimes, frightening!).
All the more important, then, to keep the indie publishers in business, where business is still in service to art.
That's a great piece from Gioia. Your point about products of manufacturers is really interesting, and I hadn't considered that angle at all, but as you raise it, a huge part of the businesses is literally "product development." When I worked in market research we'd often be testing something new to see if there was consumer interest. Now, books aren't the same thing as Oreos, but releasing unusual or original books would be its own form of product development, investing in that next thing that may turn into something big. It really is short sighted not to consider that part of the business.