The Book Under Assault

One has to accept that in the next few years, the book as we know it will be under crushing assault-- from the line of "Kindle"-style ebooks and the Internet, but also through the indifference of most of the public. Official literature will become more narrow, more elitist, more ensconsed among an affluent minority of the populace. It will be sustained by academia and by a downsized infrastructure. (The New York Times and the Washington Post, two pillars of book culture, are in trouble.) Lit's position will be defensive only.

Which leaves room for a dynamic literary movement which reinvents every aspect of the art. It's possible, with the right plan, to completely outflank the status quo. The plan should have the understanding that the standard $25 well-written novel is an obsolete product.