Making the grade
Cristina Odone shares some acerbic observations in her Guardian column on the often Faustian bargains authors are forced to make to get their books noticed by the mass media. From changing the titles of their books to compressing five years of research into a 90-second soundbite for TV, many authors feel that they cannot afford to hide behind the veil of obscurity that still shrouds such literary stars as Thomas Pynchon and J.D. Salinger. Some authors have demonstrated a penchant for making nice with the media at any cost. Says Odone: “From Simon Schama to David Starkey, contemporary intellectuals have enthusiastically embraced the challenge of reaching the widest possible audience – even while knowing that in so doing they compromise their academic integrity.”
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Read Cristina Odone’s column
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