Bookforum Is Closing, Leaving Ever Fewer Publications Devoted To Books

The literary magazine Bookforum has announced that its current issue would be its last [Editor's note: the link may be paywalled; alternative source], dealing a significant blow to literary journalism, which has been vastly diminished in recent years. The New York Times: "We are so proud of the contribution Bookforum has made to the literary community," the magazine said on Twitter after announcing its closure, "and are immensely grateful to the advertisers, subscribers and booksellers who made our mission possible over the years." Bookforum was one of the few remaining publications devoted to books, running a mix of reviews, essays and interviews. Among the articles it published over the years were interviews with writers like Jhumpa Lahiri and Marlon James, and essays on Philip Roth and George Saunders.

So called "little" magazines -- independent and noncommercial journals, often with readership in the low four figures -- are experiencing a renaissance, with the recent launching of many new publications such as The Drift and Forever Magazine. At the same time, national legacy journals funded by corporations are struggling to stay afloat in an era of consolidation. Astra Magazine, an international magazine of literature published by Astra Publishing House, ceased publication earlier this year after two issues, while The Washington Post Magazine announced that its final issue will run at the end of December. (The Post's books section, Book World, has recently made a comeback, however.) Bookforum and its sister publication, Artforum, were acquired by Penske Media Corporation last week. Penske did not respond to questions about the decision to shutter Bookforum. David Velasco, the editor of Artforum, said that magazine would continue operations. Bookforum's website will continue to offer access to the archives for the near future, according to Kate Koza, who is the associate publisher at Artforum and Bookforum, and will stay on at Artforum.

uhhhh.... never heard of it.

[afaiktoit]

this is not news that matters.

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[oldgraybeard]

I am not sure. Maybe it is important. Within a day or 2, no power would make everyone in tech meaningless. I know the once or twice a year short term power glitch leaves me with nothing to do for a change. Except sit in the dark wondering where my flashlight is. Odd that power seems to be getting less reliable with the new tech rather than more reliable.

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[afaiktoit]

I'm all for books, just I never heard of this publication. I usually just go to amazon and read reviews there if I want to know about a book.

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[groobly]

This is for English majors.

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[lowvisioncomputing]

People still read books?

My bookshelves are covered with books I haven't read in years, and probably never will. I really should scan them in.

After all, we're all getting older, and reading dead trees is just going to get harder ...

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[Darinbob]

But what can be more nerdy than reading a book in 2022?

What was their stand on the copyright privilege ?

[greytree]

Did they agree that the copyright privilege is being abused by mega media and that the term length is an order of magnitude too long ?
If not, fuck em.

There should be a 5 year term length for the copyright privilege that society gives to creators - until then piracy is morally correct.

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[Petersko]

You can't raise the moral bar through whataboutism. You can only bring both sides into the gutter. Don't pretend your position is elevated.

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[Petersko]

I chose the word with care. I stand by it. Your phrase, "until then, piracy is morally correct", on the other hand, is somewhat ridiculous. Copyright abuse is bad, but its existence does not elevate piracy. It just makes you feel justified in lowering your own behavioral standards. That's fine - but own it for what it is. Don't pretend to yourself that the high ground is yours. It isn't.

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[greytree]

Nope, now justification of the term you misused. Thought not.

> Copyright abuse is bad, but its existence does not elevate piracy.

Yes. It does.

Great argument.

Sorry, but good riddance in two respects

[argStyopa]

There's a thing called the internet.
It's ubiquitous, and is the perfect vehicle for delivering curated content to niche audiences, costs nearly nothing to produce nor receive.
The time of "private little boutique newsletters" actually being printed and snail-mailed to subscribers is as dead as the village blacksmith.

In the other respect...have you READ any modern literary criticism recently? Odious over-educated narcissists maundering ceaselessly over shit even the woke activists think is stupid.
Look, aldai

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[fermion]

From a reader point of view, publishers are there to promote writers. They pick and choose, a promote, and take a cut.

For just reading, publishers are largely unnecessary. With the internet writers can just publish, and readers can just read.

Of course there is often little money to be made. And some writers like Doctorow cause useless drama because they donâ(TM)t like copyright but still think they deserve to be paid.

In spite of this I think there is a place for curated literary rags. I still su

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[groobly]

Thank you for the new vocabulary word: maundering.

Blinkist, the Symptom

[Petersko]

There's been a surge in services like "Blinkist". You know... "We'll do the heavy lifting and condense the book into 15 minutes of notes for you." Of course, this leads to a predictable result. Anybody taking this path gets exactly what they want - the ability to sound like they know something, while understanding little or nothing, and being totally unable to respond to a probing question. It's a vapid option for vapid people - posers.

Those services were always around - Cole's Notes, for example - but they had a reason for being. People bought them to get enough information to pass exams, or to write papers.

Literacy, beyond the mechanics of reading and writing, matters. I don't blame people growing up in this time for having short attention spans - I think it's a wonder any of them can read at all. The whole system is designed to short-circuit anything that actually takes effort. But I do wish people aspired to more than instant gratification. I think that's the real tragedy. Things needing effort aren't just ignored - they're actively disdained.

"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects!" - Robert Heinlein, The Notebooks of Lazarus Long

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[bn-7bc]

W plan n invariont . Yea that would go of without a hitch, I have non of the requsite qualifications, nor the interest. I've nor don basic military service.so I think we cN safly say any invasion I plan will be useless. Ass for the rest of that list, I would be better at so e things than other, and completely useless at some of them.. but I'm probably missing the point.

Eehhh I guess there is still GoodReads

[TomClancy_Jack]

But that site is stuck in 2007 and is run heavily by publishers and has some of the fake review issues that Amazon in general does. Indi forums are great, but also a hassle to manage communities that large if it's just for fun.

TT

[blackomegax]

Books are dead. Killed by TikTok.

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[blackomegax]

Mao did nothing wrong, especially in terms of handling landlords (aka landbastards and landleeches)

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[Emybrooksly]

This is rather sad news. I often read this magazine because there are a lot of good book reviews. It helped me a lot with my studies. But luckily, I have a backup option. I recently wrote a research paper on the book American Born Chinese by Gene Yang, and here [supremestudy.com] I found many useful essays about it. In any case, such literary platforms must develop. People read books and good reviews help to choose the story that will capture them from the first page.