New York — IT'S time for a truce.
When members of the National Book Critics Circle recently picketed the Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- protesting the elimination of its book review editor -- a war of words broke out between book reviewers and literary bloggers.
The quarrel, which got surprisingly nasty, spilled into newspapers, magazines and blogs, amid concerns over recent cutbacks at other big-city newspaper book reviews, including the Los Angeles Times. The boom in books-related blogging, it seemed, was a slap in the face to more seasoned literary voices as they watched their own outlets shrink.
Literary bloggers: An article about literary bloggers in Sunday's Calendar section said that a quotation from Michael Dirda rhetorically asking whether authors would prefer reviews in major print publications or online came from a piece in the Washington Post. Dirda wrote it for Critical Mass, the National Book Critics' Circle's blog. The quotation that begins "It's okay for the lit blogosphere to exist as a version of your mom's book club" was attributed to lit-blogger Edward Champion. It should have been attributed to lit-blogger Colleen Mondor. A reference to an e-mail exchange between Dirda and Champion referred to it as taking place "in the aftermath of their testy online exchange." Their e-mail exchange took place in the aftermath of testy online exchanges among several critics and bloggers.
Literary bloggers: An article about literary bloggers last Sunday said that a quotation from Michael Dirda rhetorically asking whether authors would prefer reviews in major print publications or online came from a piece in the Washington Post. Dirda wrote it for Critical Mass, the National Book Critics' Circle's blog. The quotation that begins "It's okay for the lit blogosphere to exist as a version of your mom's book club" was attributed to lit-blogger Edward Champion. It should have been attributed to lit-blogger Colleen Mondor. A reference to an e-mail exchange been Dirda and Champion referred to it as taking place "in the aftermath of their testy online exchange." Their e-mail exchange took place in the aftermath of testy online exchanges between several critics and bloggers.
Literary bloggers: An article about literary bloggers in the May 13 Calendar section said a quotation from Michael Dirda, rhetorically asking whether authors would prefer reviews in major print publications or online, came from a piece in the Washington Post. Dirda wrote it for Critical Mass, the National Book Critics Circle's blog. The quotation that begins, "It's OK for the lit blogosphere to exist as a version of your mom's book club," was attributed to lit-blogger Edward Champion. It should have been attributed to lit-blogger Colleen Mondor. A reference to an e-mail exchange between Dirda and Champion referred to it as taking place "in the aftermath of their testy online exchange." Their e-mail exchange took place in the aftermath of testy online exchanges among several critics and bloggers.
"If you were an author, would you want your book reviewed in the Washington Post and the New York Review of Books, or on a web site written by someone who uses the moniker NovelGobbler or Biogafriend?" Michael Dirda, a Pulitzer Prize-winning book critic, wrote in the Washington Post. "The book review section
Lit-blogger Edward Champion fired back, ridiculing the notion that only printed book reviews matter: "It's okay for the lit blogosphere to exist as a version of your Mom's book club -- it's okay for us to talk books and authors and compare notes on favorites, as long as we keep our place," snapped the San Francisco writer, who runs the Return of the Reluctant website. "Have you got that? We must not think for a minute that we contribute anything beyond serving as accessories to the real literary discussions
The accusations flew back and forth. But now there is a growing sense that enough is enough -- and that the friction between old and new book media obscures the fact that the two are in bed together now, for better or worse. Often the same people who churn out literary blogs are reviewing books for mainstream reviews. (Champion, for example, has a review appearing in this week's Los Angeles Times Book Review.)
Many believe there's a healthy synergy between the two. Maud Newton, who runs one of the more respected literary blogs (maudnewton.com), was puzzled by the idea that the two are somehow competing. "When bloggers disagree with or agree with an article about books in the mainstream press, it drives traffic to the newspaper," she said. The cutbacks at newspaper book reviews are unfortunate, but hardly the fault of bloggers.
"This was truly a false dichotomy," Mark Sarvas, who runs the L.A.-based blog the Elegant Variation, said by phone. "The two sides needn't be in opposition, certainly not at this time. There is a vast ecosystem of information about books out there, and all of it needs our support."
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