I wasn't talking about initial publication either, Jim. I was
thinking of books that go out of print and are then
reintroduced. That would include twentieth century classics
like Umberto Eco's FOUCAULT'S PENDULUM, Max Frisch's HOMO
FABER and Hermann Hesse's THE GLASS BEAD GAME, all of which
were out of print in the UK during periods when I used to
work in a bookstore. So was Eric Ambler's entire work. For a
long time.
I'd also suggest that 'the public decides what gets bought'
is only true on a technicality. The public cannot buy what is
not available for purchase. I know many cases where initial
print runs of books have sold out but the publisher hasn't
reprinted.
Al
----- Original Message -----
From: jimdohertyjr
To:
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, July 12, 2006 5:21 PM
Subject: RARA-AVIS: Re: Spillane and
misogyny
Al,
Re your comment below:
> My problem with this argument, Miker, is that the
vox populi
doesn't determine what gets published. Editors
do. And they don't
take votes. So I fail to see how that's
democratic.
Yeah, but, as I understood Miker, he was talking
about the specific
case of "standing the test of time," not initial
publication.
Editors decide what gets published, but the
public decides what gets
bought. The SUCCESS of a given book, as opposed
to the decision on
whether or not to publish it in the first place,
is driven by public
opinion.
YOu can argue, and I wouldn't deny, that the
publishers can affect
the success of a book by deciding which work
should get the
marketing dollars, which the publicity push, etc.
But that's like
saying that democratic elections can be affected
by a good
campaign. It doesn't alter the fact that the
ultimate decision is
in the hands of the voters (or, in the case of
publishing books
buyers).
And if the public decides to continue buying, and
reading, and
talking about, and writing about, a given
writer's work over a long
period of time, that's generally understood to be
"standing the test
of time."
Leaving aside the question of whether or not
"standing the test of
time" is a valid measure of whether a given piece
of literature, or
a given writer, is or is not worthwhile, it IS a
reflection of
public opinion over the passage of years.
That was my understading, at least, of what Miker
meant
by "democratic."
JIM DOHERTY
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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