Is it still Banned Books Week? I might not have thought twice about it but for a couple of bloggers I check in on, each of whom sheds a ray of light from a different direction than the typical articles on the subject.
Semicolon writes briefly about how librarians complain about parents "censoring" reading material, while they quietly skew the contents of the library collections.
And Orrologion explains how the mainstream press is ignoring their own reluctance to publish a certain strain of unpopular works.
The most disturbing thing in my mind is that more and more people probably don't care whether books are banned or censored or whatever, because fewer and fewer people in our country read books at all.
When Dana Gioia was still Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, the agency undertook an extensive study of the reading habits of the nation, which I heard him speak about recently. It's a topic that is always current with me, and I hope to post here later about some of the interesting things I learned.
But for now, I must get back to my books....
1 comment:
It's saddening. I read the other day that although vast numbers of people watch celebrity chefs and buy recipe books that those who actually cook are on the decrease. I am glad I am middle-aged and was born into a world where both books and cooking were normal parts of life.
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