2010年9月30日 星期四

舊書店 :雅博客《古今書廊》

溫州街還有一家舊書店

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雅博客在附近 所以常光顧雅博客二手書店- 首頁yabook二手書店是網路最齊全的二手書店,含文學、武俠小說、漫畫、雜誌、童書、CD、DVD等網路買書訂購。yabook二手書店另提供二手書籍之買賣與收購,若家中不要的 ...

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《古今書廊》 的新一代
2周前碰到老闆的媽媽 他們幾年前還看舊店

豐富 隨性 同理心

遨遊經典任你行 鬧中取靜足珍惜
座落在熱鬧的公館夜市邊,汀州路上的《古今書廊》可以說是ㄧ家藏書最為豐富的店。當踏入書店的那一刻,愛書人會迷幻在店中走路都難的書海中,最後才會發現 和藹可親的老闆坐在書堆中,整間店充滿了一種書的熱鬧卻又不失藝術的優雅。創店許久的《古今書廊》裡所藏的書籍可以說是各式各樣,從古典小說到學術論文在 這裡都可以找得到,身為愛書人,怎麼可以不來此尋寶?

環保理念不稀奇 心向學子最值記
從枯嶺街的舊書攤起家,隨著經濟的進步,這家經歷光華商場再搬到汀州路上的半世紀老店,猶如台北人的書房,從她的藏書內容,也見證廿世紀下半頁的台北風 華。在汀州路上已具有代表地位的《古今書廊》,慢慢的建立起屬於自己的風格。二手書店既是文化事業,也有助於資源回收,更對社會有著正面的功能。二手書攤 的型態隨著國民的經濟現象而有所變化,以前的社會,窮學生可以在二手書攤以自己所能負擔的價錢買到需要的低價書,但是隨著國民所得的增加,現在幾乎只有大 學生還有愛書人會來買這些二手書,也因為出版社的增加,各種型態的書都有,二手書攤也隨著這種現象在社會中起舞,而有所變化。

經濟光景如夢幻 維持理念最是難
經營二手書攤並不是可以賺大錢的事業,卻是ㄧ個有良心、有意義的工作。在現在這個大環境的變化下,二手書攤可以說是陷入兩難,當經濟情況好時,來二手書攤 買二手書的人意願不高;經濟狀況不好時,大家光填飽肚子都來不及了,哪有閒錢可以來買書。加上在這個電腦方便的年代,許多資料從網絡上就可以取得,這也減 少了許多人到二手書攤來買書的意願。而傳統如《古今書廊》者,求生之道,就是需要將擺滿整間店的豐富書籍分類整理,可能的話將書店中的珍貴資訊E化,跟上 時代脈動,也讓更多人分享《古今書廊》所擁有的珍貴寶藏。


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創辦於二○○二年的茉莉二手書店,以優雅的空間設計、整齊分類的書籍吸引許多買書人,改變了二手書店傳統的老舊形象,更成為台北知名度最高的二手書店。今年十月,茉莉首度跨出台北,在台中市區成立三百坪的分店,十月八日正式開幕。

 茉莉台中店耗資千萬裝潢,目前陳列將近十萬冊圖書、雜誌、CD,店內還規畫了藝廊、讀書會、健康廚房等,朝複合式藝文空間經營。十月開幕後將推出攝影家楊雅棠的攝影展、文化城珍本舊書展。十月十六日起則連續舉辦四場講座,分別邀請張惠菁、陳浩、鐘成虎、朱慧芳、劉克襄等作家及其他音樂人開講。

 茉莉書店未來將以日本最大連鎖二手書店Book Off為目標,建立收書、定價等標準化流程,因此台中店首度建置書籍資料庫,將十多萬本書一一建檔,工程浩大。

 茉莉書店創辦人戴莉珍表示,二手書店迷人的就是充滿故事,「客人就像我的老師,他們會告訴我這本書為什麼珍貴,書的歷史與故事,讓我大開眼界,這是賣新書的書店遠比不上。」

 戴莉珍與先生蔡謨利早年在光華商場經營舊書店,八年前因空間不敷使用,在公館開設茉莉書店第一家分號,現已擁有五家分店。一改過去舊書店雜亂狹窄的樣貌,茉莉以木頭書架、暖黃燈光,打造溫馨舒適的環境,並逐步建立收書、上架等流程制度,結合珍品拍賣及公益活動,讓台灣的二手書店徹底「改頭換面」。

 戴莉珍說,多年來她一直夢想開一家擁有浩瀚書海的大書店,但真正決定在台中開這家大書店卻是「一時興起」。半年前,她與當時師大店店長劉叮噹到台中度假,在街上逛時,抱著好玩心情詢問附近房租。沒想到就這樣找到屬意的地下室店面。於是,她就捲起袖子準備開店了。

 茉莉執行總監傅月庵表示,目前台灣二手書店類型多元,一種以研究版本的珍本古董書為主,如舊香居、百城堂;另一種以茉莉為代表,講究空間裝潢、風格個性的書店,如青康藏、蠹行、草祭等等;第三種則是傳統未轉型的舊書店。

Newton's Sleep by Joseph Vining

貼錯 blog
弄回來
Blake's Newton (1795) demonstrates his opposition to the "single-vision" of scientific materialism: Newton fixes his eye on a compass (recalling Proverbs 8:27, an important passage for Milton)[79] to write upon a scroll that seems to project from his own head.[80]


From Newton's Sleep by Joseph Vining

第2-3次讀From Newton's Sleep by Joseph Vining

終於讀進去
這本書內容甚難
有幾次參考或推薦 HERB SIMON 的人工智能一書 不過索引查不到
我讀完 epigram (可從Amazon 網站讀 ) 等之後 重讀 William Blake 的書.....


bookjacket

From Newton's Sleep
Joseph Vining

Paper | 1996 | This edition is out of print | ISBN13: 978-0-691-02924-5
416 pp. | 5 x 8 | 1 halftone
Cloth | 1994 | This edition is out of print | ISBN13: 978-0-691-03487-4
368 pp. | 5 x 8 | 1 illus.

Reviews | Table of Contents


What does the presence of law say of the beliefs of individuals in a society--their actual beliefs--about language, themselves, the world around them?

In a strikingly original work intended not only for practicing lawyers but for anyone interested in the modern dilemma of the loss of meaning, Joseph Vining invites us to reconsider law as a unique form of thought, inseparably connected to everything in the world that makes up human identity. Oliver Wendell Holmes asserted at the end of the nineteenth century that human law is ultimately a phenomenon in quantitative relations to its causes and effects, and many have been left with an impression of law as a set of processes and rules. Vining takes issue with this and with various reductionist attempts in scientific thought today to express the universe in a single mathematical description of forces, as well as with post-structuralist speculation that there are no valid truth claims, and that human inter-action can be reduced to analysis of power relationships. Law, he argues, is an independent discourse, not reducible to any other, that exists only in human interaction and reflects continuing human worth. Vining's search to reinstate the spiritual dimension in public discourse brings him head-on with a wide array of powerful academic forces: linguistics theory, political science, the new historicism, and the traditional teaching of law.

This book consists of a collection of what Vining calls "amplifications" of the implied text of the law--impressions, commentaries, vignettes, poems, and dialogues--which illustrate aspects of conventional legal language and logic, and the subjects legal practice regularly deals with, such as promises, death, and crime. Throughout we see that law reaches deeply into the way we know ourselves and other persons, all of whom speak through law as law connects language to person and person to action. The texts generated by legal method constitute the living record of social acquaintance and contest, speaking across cultures and across centuries. It is the close reading of legal texts and contexts, Vining argues, that provides the present source of the transcendental in modern secular life. But unlike the other academic arts of interpretation, law alone is directly connected with the most real, the most particular and, at the same time, the most universal facts of social life.

From Newton's Sleep poses ultimate questions for a century that now approaches its end, casts doubt on certainties past and present, and creates new grounds for skepticism and conviction. The fragmentary form of the book mirrors its subject. It is intended to be picked up and read as occasion allows, especially at evening, by lawyers and all their fellow nonlawyers.

Reviews:

"A surprisingly fresh voice. . . states considerations with which scholars of the law, even busy practitioners with more immediate concerns, should now and then grapple."--Christopher C. Faille, The Federal Lawyer

"Clearly an important contribution to the literature of the concept of law."--The Sunday Telegraph

"[Vining] has no simple thesis, but the message of the book can be communicated this way: Law is basic to human life, connecting thought to action and action to the world. And we ignore this fact at our peril. . . . Vining is a subtle, occasionally profound thinker and he displays an impressive breadth of cultural and scholarly interest. . . . [From Newton's Sleep] is right in insight and written with obvious passion. Where you do not agree you will nevertheless be deeply challenged."--Globe and Mail

Endorsements:

"This original book. . . finds surprising treasures hidden in lawyers' ways of knowing."--Mary Ann Glendon, Harvard Law School

"Joseph Vining's voice is a strong and different one--one that has the power to break the dominant patterns of jurisprudence. . . . His meditative illustrations, which are aimed at establishing that law is a response to persons, are the work of a lawyer, drawn from a lawyer's practice. Vining conveys with conviction and passion what all lawyers assume in order to do their work. Lawyers at any level of practice will profit from reading this book."--John T. Noonan, Jr., U.S. Circuit Judge

"From Newton's Sleep is one of the most important books ever written about law as a practice that involves whole persons and engages the emotions, imagination, and spirit as well as the mind. It is--what is even rarer--a wise book, with much to teach lawyers about their profession and all of us about how to live humanely in our world.... A superb accomplishment."--H. Jefferson Powell, Duke University



TABLE OF CONTENTS:


Contents of Sections
Sect. IIntroductory1
Sect. IIThe Life of Forms: On the Language of Legal Thought51
Sect. IIIThe Detail and the Whole: On the Logic of Legal Thought93
Sect. IVPresent Meaning: On the Personal in Legal Thought163
Sect. VThe Pull of the Real: On the Active in Legal Thought211
Sect. VIFull Circle: On the Force of Legal Thought237
Sect. VIIThe Expression of Responsibility: On the Organizational in Legal Thought283
Sect. VIIIBeyond Words: On the Temporal in Legal Thought327

A Note on Form357

References and Acknowledgments359

Index

From Newton's Sleep [Paperback]

Joseph Vining (Author)


From Scientific American
From Newton's Sleep is one of the most important books ever written about law as a practice that involves whole persons and engages the emotions, imagination, and spirit as well as the mind. It is what is even rarer a wise book, with much to teach lawyers about their profession and all of us about how to live humanely in our world.... A superb accomplishment.

Review

This original book by distinguished Michigan legal scholar Joseph Vining finds surprising treasures hidden in lawyers' ways of knowing.... He challenges with equal vigor the widely held notions that law can be reduced to processes and rules, or to power relations, or to meaningless signs and marks. -- Mary Ann Glendon, Harvard Law School

[Vining] has no simple thesis, but the message of the book can be communicated this way: Law is basic to human life, connecting thought to action and action to the world. And we ignore this fact at our peril. . . . Vining is a subtle, occasionally profound thinker and he displays an impressive breadth of cultural and scholarly interest. . . . [From Newton's Sleep] is right in insight and written with obvious passion. Where you do not agree you will nevertheless be deeply challenged. -- Review

0 意見:

Experience and Its Modes 不是 經驗及其模式

Experience and its modes - Google 圖書結果

Michael Oakeshott - 1985 - Philosophy - 359 頁
This classic work of analytical philosophy is here published for the first time in paperback.

經驗及其模式 Experience and Its Modes

這是哲學書 所以modes 指的是個別的特性 而不是模式

日文對 mode 的翻譯
《哲学》様態, 様状;《論理学》様相.

mode, model

本书是英国当代著名政治哲学家迈克尔·奥克肖特(1901-1990)的第一部成名作。在书中,作者系统阐述了历史、科学和实践三种经验模式的基本特征, 三种经验模式间的相互关系以及它们各自与哲学的关系。该书包含着奥克肖特后期思想发展的许多探索,对于全面深入地了解奥克肖特的哲学思想具有重要的价值。 全书独特的思想观念,优美细致的写作风格,独到的分析手法得到了广泛的赞誉。《英国教育研究杂志》认为:“许多读者都已被奥克肖特的风格所折服;很少有如 此深奥的思想能得到如此精致的表述。”
第一章 导言
第二章 经验及其模式
第一节经验在任何地方都包含着判断
第二节经验与真理
第三节经验与实在
第四节经验模式
第五节哲学
第三章 历史经验
第一节导言:历史是一个观念世界
第二节历史世界:关于过去的观念、真理、实在和解释
第三节历史是一个抽象的观念世界
第四节历史学与实践、科学的关系
第四章 科学经验
第一节导言
第二节科学方法
第三节自然
第四节科学世界的逻辑结构:归纳、统计性归纳、概率和假设
第五节科学是一个抽象观念世界
第六节作为一门科学的经济学
第七节作为一门科学的心理学
第八节结论:科学统一体
第五章 实践经验
第一节导言
第二节实践是一个观念世界
第三节实践经验的一般特征
第四节实践的假设:(1)“实然”
第五节实践的假设:(2)“应然”
第六节实践是对“实然”的改造,以便使其与“应然”相符
第七节实践是一个抽象观念世界
第八节实践与科学、历史学的关系
第九节实践与哲学
第六章 结语
第一节重申经验及其模式理论
第二节伪哲学的经验:伦理学
第三节再论哲学
译名对照
文献索引
译后记

The Egoist by G. Meredith

讀點The Egoist by G. Meredith

利己主義者 梅瑞迪斯 項星耀譯 上海譯文 1995

要學好英文起碼要讀點19世紀的文章


If this line of verse be not yet in our literature,

Through very love of self himself he slew,

let it be admitted for his epitaph.




梅瑞迪斯, 乔治(George Meredith, 1828―1909) 《现代的爱情》 (Modern Love, 1862) 《利己主义者》 (The Egoist, 1879)

梅瑞狄斯的《利己主義者》(1879)細緻地分析了英國紳士在婚姻問題上的虛妄的 ...

Design Motifs of Ancient Mexico

比較令人不解的是動物中有狗鳥 等等 缺貓

搜尋結果

design motifs of ancient mexico」的圖片搜尋結果

- 檢舉圖片


Subject > Art > Pictorial Archive
Click to enlargeDesign Motifs of Ancient Mexico

Jorge Enciso
Our Price$9.95
Availability: In Stock

Format: Book
ISBN: 0486200841
Page Count: 153
Dimensions: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
Primarily a catalog of ancient motifs contains over 760 vigorous, powerful, stark designs from pre-Columbian clay stamps made by Aztecs, Maya, Zapotecs, Toltec, Olmec, Mixtec. Depictions of serpents, gods, priests, dancers, florals, geometrics, more. Brief text identifies motif and location of origin.

印象派繪畫中的時尚女性與花園

Arts on the Air | 23.09.2010 | 15:30

Edinburgh’s National Gallery examines impressionist painters’ obsession with gardens

It has taken 4 years for the 97 paintings that make up the Impressionist Gardens exhibition to be gathered from public and private collections around the world for their only UK showing in Edinburgh.

The paintings of Monet, Renoir or Manet are familiar to most of us. They are, after all, among the most memorable and significant art works of the 19th and early 20th centuries, just think of Claude Monet’s water-lily ponds or Auguste Renoir’s “Woman with Parasol in A Garden”…Although the Impressionists feature one of the best-tilled artistic fields there is, a current show at the National Gallery of Scotland is the first ever to focus on these painters’ obsession with their gardens .

Report: Peggy Graham


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書  名: 印象派繪畫中的時尚女性與巴黎消費文化-開放的藝術
書  號: 9787534429309 出版社 : 江蘇美術
作  者: (美)露絲.E.愛斯金 頁  數: 0頁


作者/譯者/編者.簡介
洛杉磯加州大學博士,曾榮獲佩恩人文論壇的安德魯·W.梅隆基金,並在《藝術公報》、《話語》、《19世紀語境》等刊物上發表若干論文,現于以色列內蓋夫本一古望安大學教授藝術史與視覺文化。
 
內容簡介
本雅明的"巴黎拱廊街計畫",以獨特方式觀察了19世紀巴黎城市的景觀變遷,以意象的方式寓意了資本主義的 盛衰史;後印象派畫家凡高,他執著藝術、渴望生活,感動了億萬讀者。那麼此書,則以獨特視角、綜合的研究方法開啟了對19世紀印象派繪畫中時尚女性形象和 巴黎消費文化等趣味性內容的探索與描繪……
從某種意義上說,19世紀下半葉的法國印象派繪畫,既延續了傳統藝術的風格,又開啟了現代藝術視覺經驗的先聲。此書通過消費文化這面"透鏡"審視了記載於 冊的印象派畫作的各類主題,通過對這些主題的闡釋,分析了消費文化、前衛藝術實踐以及印象派畫家作品中女性形象的相互影響。作者以敏銳的學術眼光與宏觀的 知識視野,使本書融學術性、趣味性於一體。在今日都市生活日益精緻趨優的背景下,充滿活力和激情的印象派繪畫帶著巴黎永不褪色的時尚氣息,再次激起讀者共 鳴。


目錄
前言
致謝
第一章 引論:印象派、消費文化與現代女性 .
第二章 推銷、誘惑與吸引:馬奈的《福利一貝熱爾酒吧問》
第三章 德加炫目的帽店與手工藝工作室:消費者、女帽設計師與女店員,1882-約1910年
第四章 不經意的顛覆:19世紀70年代城市景觀中的巴黎消費文化
第五章 自然與市場:左拉、畢沙羅與卡耶博特
第六章 時尚巴黎女郎:法同時尚與女性氣質的民族品牌
參考文獻

2010年9月29日 星期三

The contemplation of the world: figures of community style

The contemplation of the world: figures of community style - Google 圖書結果

Michel Maffesoli - 1996 - Philosophy - 151 頁
In The Contemplation of the World, eminent French theorist Michel Maffesoli pursues and extends his project of decoding contemporary societies.
Weber 查一下
http://books.google.com/books?id=Z_EuMn09vBEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=michel+maffesoli+The+Contemplation+of+the+World:+Figures+of+Community+Style&source=bl&ots=em1UALqSB-&sig=Mj47k9L-Gam9eYRIM_cVd5UqUp4&hl=zh-TW&ei=EuqiTKH1FoO4vQOO2OyOBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=weber&f=false



The Contemplation of the World: Figures of Community Style
La Contemplation du monde (1993), Le Livre de Poche, 1996.
  • Jason Ryan MacLean and
  • Jason Ryan MacLean
Book Review: Maffesoli, Michel. The Contemplation of the World: Figures of Community Style (1997). Trans. By Susan Emannuel. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press Critical Sociology January 2000 26: 166-170, doi:10.1177/08969205000260010903

Michel Maffesoli (born on 14 November 1944 in Graissessac, Hérault) is a French sociologist.

He is a former pupil of Gilbert Durand and is at present a professor at the Paris Descartes University. Michel Maffesoli made a work around the issue of social link community, the prevalence of imagination and everyday life in contemporary societies. His work contributes to the postmodern paradigm approach. Director of the magazines Sociétés and Les Cahiers Européens de l'imaginaire, he is also the Secretary General of the Center for Research on the imagination and a member of the scientific committee of several international journals, including Social Movement Studies, Space and Culture and Sociologia Internationalis.

Maffesoli Michel was awarded the Grand Prix des Sciences de l'Académie française in 1992 for La transfiguration du politique. He is Vice-President of the Institut international de Sociologie, founded in 1893 by René Worms, and member of the Institut Universitaire de France since September 2008, after a very controversial nomination.[1] More generally, Michel Maffesoli has been the subject of much controversy in both scientific and professional, the most famous of those is about the thesis which he directed and made to support Elizabeth Teissier.

活力台灣,法蘭克福書展DYNAMIC TAIWAN

台灣參加法蘭克福書展秀出版活力

記者陳思嫻/台北報導

台灣將以「活力台灣, DYNAMIC TAIWAN」為主題,參加今年10月舉辦的法蘭克福書展,並設置「幸福感台灣」、「台灣讚文學」、「數位出版」等十個專區,透過多本中書外譯版本,讓國際出版人了解台灣文化及出版的深度。

書展基金會董事長王榮文昨天表示,今年台灣館將會有117家出版社,1272本數位和平面出版品參展,特別邀請台灣自然作家劉克襄,與德國知名文學評論家猶克.瑪根瑙於6館國際座談區舉辦「大島的自然書寫」演講。

在數位出版方面,台灣館則設立「數位出版暨電子閱讀專區」,結合閱讀器、數位化出版相關軟體及設備廠商展出,舉辦「讓你在E-Book市場更有競爭力──台灣電子書產業介紹」座談等。

「台灣讚文學」專區,內容含括自1950年起至1990年代的台灣文學發展歷程,以不同年代為依準,推薦台灣當代作家,包括王文興、李喬、朱天文等,另有1960年代以後出生的新世代作家,例如九把刀、伊格言、李佳穎、童偉格、許榮哲等14位作家。

董其昌年譜/ 傅申著《董其昌书画船:水上行旅与鉴赏、创作关系研究》

其昌年譜 鄭威著 上海書畫出版社

本來不想記此書

不過發現在15頁 30歲下 有"悟竹篾子哲理" 這是我20年前的筆記 現在已不知所云



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"在近三十年来的国内外书画史学界,有关董其昌研 究的专著和论文不计其数,但关于董其昌年谱的编纂却仅有数种。日本学者藤原有仁、中田勇次郎和古原宏伸等在上世纪七十年代首开先河,但从内容上来看颇为粗 简。在八十年代后期,国内的中国美术学院教授任道斌先生出版了《董其昌系年》、上海博物馆研究员郑威先生出版了《董其昌年谱》,两书皆堪称是发轫之作。虽 然已时过近二十余年,但至今仍是董其昌研究的重要参考书籍之一。"
http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_51a5fb550100kpee.html

闲读消夏记之董其昌年谱两种

任道斌著《董其昌系年》 文物出版社1988年3月初版一印 317页 原书价2.20元 现书价90元

郑威著 《董其昌年谱》 上海书画出版社1989年6月初版一印 233页 原书价5.00元 现书价80元

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董其昌(1555-1636)在中国文人画的发展史上,应该可以与苏轼、米芾、赵孟頫相提并论,名垂千古。



傅申著《董其昌书画船:水上行旅与鉴赏、创作关系研究》。台湾大学艺术史研究所《美术史研究集刊》第15期(2003年9月出版)

http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:HfFrHPg1njEJ:ntur.lib.ntu.edu.tw/bitstream/246246/28767/1/912411H002074.pdf+%E8%91%A3%E5%85%B6%E6%98%8C%E5%B9%B4%E8%AD%9C+%E9%84%AD%E5%A8%81%E8%91%97&hl=zh-TW&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEEShwHs5cjhj_8Hak3AD0HbSSIHr10fXR7ugDkIzhxR0Rp6oXiO9e7KSEM0zkF0b1dZWJ7V-VDOIpixnpef0-6nGd0MK65qtgaktvNb2lM0wf7S7jRqD45UpeiUfdUv0HOMCmtPqT&sig=AHIEtbReHJDzTqqAq6zuBouGZN8JD3o3JA


The Egoist

讀點The Egoist by G. Meredith

要學好英文起碼要讀點19世紀的文章


If this line of verse be not yet in our literature,

Through very love of self himself he slew,

let it be admitted for his epitaph.


The Egoist is a tragicomical novel by George Meredith published in 1879.

The novel recounts the story of self-absorbed Sir Willoughby Patterne and his attempts at marriage; jilted by his first bride-to-be, he vacillates between the sentimental Laetitia Dale and the strong-willed Clara Middleton. More importantly, the novel follows Clara's attempts to escape from her engagement to Sir Willoughby, who desires women to serve as a mirror for him and consequently cannot understand why she would not want to marry him. Thus, The Egoist dramatizes the difficulty contingent upon being a woman in Victorian society, when women's bodies and minds are trafficked between fathers and husbands to cement male bonds.

In an afterword by Angus Wilson, The Egoist was called "the turning point in George Meredith's career". Wilson saw Meredith as "the first great art novelist"; his afterword interprets the book as an adaptation of a stage comedy, an achievement he arrogates to few English authors, who, he suggests, present only "farce or satire" (Wilson 501-3). He compliments Meredith most when he is detached from his characters, as "it is then that our laughter is most thoughtful" (Wilson 503). Wilson is most taken by "the absolute truth of much of the dialogue", such as how "the way Sir Willoughby continues to speak through the answers of other characters, returning to notice their replies only when his own vein of thought is exhausted" is a "wonderful observation of human speech" (Wilson 508).

In his essay "Books Which Have Influenced Me," Robert Louis Stevenson reports the following story: "A young friend of Mr. Meredith's (as I have the story) came to him in agony. 'This is too bad of you,' he cried. 'Willoughby is me!' 'No, my dear fellow,' said the author; 'he is all of us.'" (Stevenson 115).

E. M. Forster discussed the book in his lecture series Aspects of the Novel, using it as an example of a "highly organized" plot (Forster p87). Much of his discussion, however, focuses on Meredith and his popularity as an author.

More materially, Forster compliments Meredith on not revealing Laetitia Dale's changed feelings for Willoughby until she rejects him in their midnight meeting; "[i]t would have spoiled his high comedy if we had been kept in touch throughout ... in fact it would be boorish. ... Meredith with his unerring good sense here lets the plot triumph" rather than explaining Dale's character more fully (Forster p92).

Forster further compares Meredith with Thomas Hardy, complimenting Hardy on his pastoral sensibilities and Meredith on his powerful plots, "[knowing] what [his] novel[s] could stand" (Forster p94).

External links

References

  • Forster, E. M. (1954). Aspects of the Novel. Harvest Books (Harcourt, Brace & World).
  • Meredith, George; afterword by Angus Wilson (1963). The Egoist. The New American Library of World Literature (Signet Books). pp. 501–508.
  • Stevenson, Robert Louis (1999). R.L. Stevenson on Fiction. Edinburgh University Press.



Authors Feel Pinch in Age of E-Books

Authors Feel Pinch in Age of E-Books


[authors] Credit: Matt Wright-Steel for the Wall Street Journal

Author John Pipkin worries about the e-book business model: 'I've had to rethink my plans in terms of supporting my family full time as a writer.'

When literary agent Sarah Yake shopped around Kirsten Kaschock's debut novel "Sleight" this year, she thought it would be a shoo-in with New York's top publishers.

"Her project was one of the most exemplary in the last decade or so," said Jed Rasula, who has taught in the English department at the University of Georgia since 2001. "I certainly thought she'd find a New York publisher."

But the major New York publishers passed on "Sleight," a novel about two sisters trained in a fictional art form. Coffee House Press in Minneapolis, a small independent publisher, now plans to publish the book, offering Ms. Kaschock an advance of about $3,500—a small fraction of the typical advances once paid by the major publishing houses.

The digital revolution is not only disrupting the traditional publishing model, but new and aspiring literary writers as well, who are less likely to gain attention from publishers or command the advances they once might have. WSJ's Jeffrey Trachtenberg discusses on digits.

It has always been tough for literary fiction writers to get their work published by the top publishing houses. But the digital revolution that is disrupting the economic model of the book industry is having an outsize impact on the careers of literary writers.

Priced much lower than hardcovers, many e-books generate less income for publishers. And big retailers are buying fewer titles. As a result, the publishers who nurtured generations of America's top literary-fiction writers are approving fewer book deals and signing fewer new writers. Most of those getting published are receiving smaller advances.

"Advances are down, and there aren't as many debuts as before," says Ira Silverberg, a well-known literary agent. "We're all trying to figure out what the business is as it goes through this digital disruption."

[AUTHORS_p1]

Much as cheap digital-music downloads have meant that fewer bands can earn a living from record-company deals, fewer literary authors will be able to support themselves as e-books win acceptance, publishers and agents say. "In terms of making a living as a writer, you better have another source of income," says Nan Talese, whose Nan A. Talese/Doubleday imprint publishes Ian McEwan, Margaret Atwood and John Pipkin.

In some cases, independent publishers are picking up the slack by signing promising literary-fiction writers. But they offer, on average, $1,000 to $5,000 for advances, a fraction of the $50,000 to $100,000 advances that established publishers typically paid in the past for debut literary fiction.

The new economics of the e-book make the author's quandary painfully clear: A new $28 hardcover book returns half, or $14, to the publisher, and 15%, or $4.20, to the author. Under many e-book deals currently, a digital book sells for $12.99, returning 70%, or $9.09, to the publisher and typically 25% of that, or $2.27, to the author.

The upshot: From an e-book sale, an author makes a little more than half what he or she makes from a hardcover sale.

The Future of the Book

The Journal explores how digital technology is remaking the book industry. See more at WSJ Topics: E-Books.

More on E-Books

The lower revenue from e-books comes amidst a decline in book sales that was already under way. The seemingly endless entertainment choices created by the Web have eaten into the time people spend reading books. The weak economy also is contributing to the slide.

"We aren't seeing a generation of readers coming along that supports writers today the way that young people supported J. D. Salinger and Philip Roth when they were starting out," says Ms. Talese, who is married to the author Gay Talese.

Sales of consumer books peaked in 2008 at 1.63 billion units and are expected to decline to 1.47 billion this year and to 1.43 billion by 2012, says Albert Greco, a book-industry market researcher.

E-books sales are exploding. Currently, e-books account for an estimated 8% of total book revenue, up from 3% to 5% a year ago. Mike Shatzkin, a publishing consultant, estimates e-books could be 20% to 25% of total unit sales by the end of 2012. "Eventually, digital books will overtake physical books," Mr. Greco predicts.

Some book-industry experts say that lower e-book prices could increase overall unit sales eventually. Whether they will make up for the loss of hardcover income remains to be seen.

Although e-books are still in their infancy, publishers say that average advances on literary fiction are already shrinking. To secure the rights to publish and distribute a book, publishers pay authors advances against future book sales. After the book is published, the author earns a royalty that is initially applied to the advance. Once the author recoups the advance, he earns a percentage of every book sale.

There will always be the lucky new author whose first novel ignites a hot auction. But more often today, many debut novels that would have won lucrative advances five years ago today are getting $15,000 or less, says Adam Chromy, a New York literary agent. Mr. Chromy was recently disappointed with the immediate response from editors for a debut novel he thought was exceptionally good.

Credit: Matt Wright-Steel for the Wall Street Journal

Mr. Pipkin teaches creative writing

"The bar is higher," says Jamie Raab, publisher of Lagardere SCA's Grand Central Publishing, which is buying less debut fiction than in prior years. Although launching debut titles is one of the most rewarding aspects of publishing, Ms. Raab says, "publishers are buying more selectively, agents are being more selective with choosing clients, and retailers are taking fewer titles."

The e-book is good news for some. Big-name authors and novels that are considered commercial are increasingly in demand as e-book readers gravitate toward best sellers with big plots. Unlike traditional bookstores, where a browsing customer might discover an unknown book set out on a table, e-bookstores generally aren't set up to allow readers to discover unknown authors, agents say. Brand-name authors with big marketing budgets behind them are having the greatest success thus far in the digital marketplace.

Editors' Deep Dive: Tablets Bring New Chapter to Publishing

Access thousands of business sources not available on the free web. Learn More

In July, Amazon.com Inc. said the late Swedish writer Stieg Larsson, whose novel "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" is part of a trilogy of top-selling crime books, was the first writer to sell more than 1 million Kindle books.

Celebrated author Jonathan Franzen, who has already built his reputation as one of America's premier literary-fiction writers, is seeing significant e-book sales of his new novel, "Freedom," having sold well over 35,000 in the first two weeks after going on sale Aug. 31.

"Monster best sellers are still the major drivers of profits for publishers and their authors—and these are precisely the books that are being snapped up by e-book buyers," says Laurence Kirshbaum, a New York literary agent.

It's a different story for debut fiction writers and those with less commercial potential, who might have print runs of 10,000 copies or less. Mr. Kirshbaum says he's found it difficult to sell a debut novel about small-town life because many editors are no longer committing to new writers with the expectation that their story-telling skills will evolve with the second, third and fourth books. In the past, many literary authors were able to build careers because of such patience, Mr. Kirshbaum says.

[AUTHORS_jmp]

"Writers like Anne Tyler and Elmore Leonard have to simmer quite a bit before they are going to boil. Publishers no longer have the patience to work through multiple modest successes," Mr. Kirshbaum says. "There is a real danger that these people could be lost today."

John Pipkin's 2009's debut novel, "Woodsburner," won several literary prizes, including the 2009 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. Despite the acclaim and print sales of more than 10,000, "Woodsburner" has only sold 359 digital copies.

Mr. Pipkin says the business model of e-books worries him. "I embrace anything that makes it possible for people to read what I've written, especially if it's somebody who might not have read the physical book," Mr. Pipkin says. "But the sales price of e-books is lower than the price of physical books, so writers stand to earn less. It's a concern moving forward, especially as e-books make up a larger percentage of sales."

Mr. Pipkin, who has Ph.D in English literature, says he cobbles together an income based in part on grants, fellowships and a partial advance he has received for his second book. "I've had to rethink my plans in terms of supporting my family full time as a writer," he says.

His wife, a tenured professor, provides health benefits for his family. Mr. Pipkin, who teaches an undergraduate creative-writing class at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, receives no benefits. Although he has an IRA, he doesn't receive employer contributions. Mr. Pipkin, 43, says his goal is to find a full-time teaching position with benefits.

"Unless you're a best-selling author, I don't see how it's possible for an author to get together enough income to pay for health insurance, retirement and other things," he says.

Only a few years back, previously unknown writer Diane Setterfield scored a seven-figure advance for her debut novel, "The Thirteenth Tale," while Jed Rubenfeld was paid $800,000 for his debut, "The Interpretation of Murder."

The Authors Guild and some literary agents are urging publishers to raise the author's share of e-books to as high as 50%, arguing that there is less overhead for a digital book. Thus far, publishers are resisting.

Not everyone believes that the shift to digital publishing is necessarily bad for writers. Novelist E.L. Doctorow, who has taught creative writing for 23 years at the NYU Creative Writing Program, says the industry may be transforming away from big corporate-owned publishers back to a cottage industry like it was many years ago. The shakeout could help prune an overcrowded market.

Long before there were iPads and Kindles changing communication as we know it, there were other disruptive technologies and breakout information delivery systems. Like the printing press. And the Guttenberg Bible. WSJ's Marshall Crook offers a brief history of the book.

"Writers come up from nowhere, from the ground up, and nobody is looking for them or asking for them, but there they are," says Mr. Doctorow. "If there is a weeding out that's going to occur because of such difficulties, it may be all to the good."

As e-book sales accelerate, their impact on physical book sales will grow. Publishers worry that $12.99 digital books that typically go on sale the same date as physical books will cut into their hardcover sales and their $14.99 paperback sales down the line, a key revenue producer for literary titles.

Amazon, which controls the majority of digital-book sales with its Kindle reading device, says its Kindle e-book sales already are outpacing hardcover sales. Kindle e-books could outsell paperbacks in nine to 12 months, Amazon has said.

Also under pressure are big chains such as Barnes & Noble and Borders Group Inc., which continue to close stores because of the digital shift and the woeful economy. The stores have played a critical role in focusing attention on new voices through meet-and-greet readings and other promotions.

Meanwhile, small independent publishers are becoming more popular options for new writers. Leslie Daniels, a literary agent for the past 20 years, was thrilled to sell Creston Lea's recently published debut short-story collection, "Wild Punch," to Turtle Point Press.

But the author received only a $1,000 advance, typical of the advances paid by small independents. "I can't make a living as a writer, but it feels great to have these stories out in the world," says Mr. Lea. The author, who lives in Vermont, builds electric guitars and writes on the side. Jonathan Rabinowitz, publisher of Turtle Point Press, says "Wild Punch" has sold about 1,500 copies, including 150 e-books. He described the performance as "encouraging."

The smaller advance has a ripple effect. Ms. Daniels, who earns a 15% commission, used to make $11,250 on a big publisher advance of $75,000 or so. Her cut on Mr. Lea's $1,000: $150.

Write to Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg at jeffrey.trachtenberg@wsj.com



Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703369704575461542987870022.html?mod=djemTECH_h#ixzz10sAIucEC

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