Posted on 01/21/2009 8:54:08 AM PST by mojito
Novelist, essayist and screenwriter Larry McMurtry makes a rare Houston speaking appearance Wednesday night when he delivers the 2009 Friends of Fondren Library Distinguished Guest Lecture.
Best-known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning novelLonesome Dove, the 72-year-old McMurtry remains extraordinarily prolific. He contributes frequently to the New York Review of Books. His screenplay for Brokeback Mountain, co-written with Diana Ossana, won an Academy Award in 2006.
And while he has turned in the last decade to memoir, chronicling his evolution as a writer and antiquarian-book dealer, he’s not done with fiction. His 29th novel hits bookstores later this year.
McMurtry also continues to operate Booked Up, his massive used- and rare-book shop in his hometown of Archer City.
He talked by phone with Chronicle books editor Fritz Lanham.
Q: What will you talk about at Rice?
A: The end of the culture of the book. I’m pessimistic. Mainly it’s the flow of people into my bookshop in Archer City. They’re almost always people over 40.
I don’t see kids, and I don’t see kids reading. I think little kids love to have stories read to them, but when they get to 10 or 11 or 12, they run into this tsunami of technology: iPod, iPhone, Blackberries.
They don’t resist it, and it’s normal that they wouldn’t; it’s their culture. I’m not so sure they ever come back to reading. Some will, but most won’t.
Q: Does that portend disaster for our culture?
A: It portends difficulty. I don’t know about disaster.
(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...
A citizenry that can't think will not be able to maintain a republican form of government.
They’ve been talking about the end of the Gutenberg Age for a while. It’s almost impossible to market fiction to men these days.
I’d be interested in hearing J.K. Rowling and Stephenie Meyer’s takes on youth not reading.
Hey,Larry,they’re called Democrats.
Yeah but those youth are too busy practicing Wicca! /sarc
A citizenry that doesn’t read has just elected a POTUS.
I’m interested in the state of the market. You know any good websites for me?
Sites for what? The sales of fiction as per gender?
The entire market... Fiction, nonfiction, gender sales, age sales, etc. I’m amazed at how difficult it is for me to find this kind of thing. I think the publishers keep it secret.
Perhaps they should write (and market) book men want to read, instead of pap geared to homosexuals and anti-americans.
The book sellers hide “manly” books -— indeed, even conservsative non-fiction -— refusing to promote them.
I remember asking for one of Coulter’s books -— when it was in the NYT Top 10 -— and finding out they had hidden it behind the counter.
Whatever Clintoon’s book was -— well, it was front and center.
oh I’m not into fiction at all but I’m always reading and thinking
And based on trends that I've seen, people read less as they age and gain additional responsibilities. So the number of kids, in the future, who see their parents enjoying books will be markedly less.
Men tend to like action and there doesn't seem to be many quality authors in that genre any more. Gone are the days of Ian Fleming and Robert Ludlum. And it has been over six years since Tom Clancy released anything new.
However, there does seem to be quality works coming out of the sci-fi/fantasy genre . . . where you will find many men have migrated.
Personally, I just finished Empire by Orson Scott Card and thought it was fantastic. It was definitely more action, espionage and intrigue than sci-fi.
My only question would be whether reading the Harry Potter books leads to a lifetime love of reading, or whether it leads to the passive fantasy-escapism of video games.
My own observation is that kids 12 to 16 do enjoy the Potter books, but that by the time they're 18-20 they've lost interest in reading because gizmos and computer games are so much more immediately gratifying..
That’s ok, the Obamunists in the media support Fearless Leader in his statement that memories are short and we will see much CHANGE in this country in the next four years. He says that debate is over.
There is no sense in studying the past since it will only be rewritten to accomidate the political correctness of the future.
Anyone with an honest mind knows that “debate” on man made global warming and socialized medicine and illegal immigration are not over. There has not even BEEN formal debate.
But then, socialism can never compete in the arena of ideas, it must be forced upon the people and sold with lies.
I would also ask, what is the future of fiction. What books are there from the past 30 years that will hold their own on the shelves with classics from the past 500?
It’s always hard to predict but Pynchon and Delillo seem to have staying power. ‘Gravity’s Rainbow’ published in 1973 is regarded by many as the best American novel of the last 40 year or so.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.