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“What is so important about literary criticism?”

The “death of the newspaper book section” debate made it onto TV screens last week thanks to Comedy Central‘s fake right-wing pundit Stephen Colbert, who began the segment by proclaiming, “Nation: we are winning the war on reading!”

Critical Mass, the blog of the National Book Critics Circle’s board of directors, has posted the clip here.

Colbert brings in Salman Rushdie so he can ask the venerable author, “What is so important about literary criticism? Why do we need these elitist, ivory-tower PhD-types in magazines and newspapers telling me what I should or should not read?”

Rushdie replies, “There are very simple reasons – for a start, you wouldn’t know what was out there to read if there wasn’t somebody telling you,” and goes on to take a swipe at Paris Hilton’s memoir.

Rushdie essentially suggests that book sections are useful for promoting authors, and for letting readers know what’s on shelves.

“Right now, it’s terrible what’s happening,” he says, adding that he’s one of 6,000 writers who has signed a protest. “We’ve discovered we can’t do without [critics].”

Colbert closes by trying to get Rushdie to review and/or blurb his new book – “and, if my publisher is watching, let’s assume I’m finished writing it.” Rushdie prevaricates. Colbert orders the doors to the studio locked. And, scene!

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