Books and Literature

ANDREW LO: I Read 21 Books About The Financial Crisis And They Explained Nothing

6 Feb 2012

Ever thought you would have to read 21 books to get to the bottom of what caused the financial crisis? Lo, a leading expert on hedge funds and financial engineering, has written a paper (h/t NPR ) for the Journal of Economic Literature describing his experience reading 21 books on the crisis — nine by journalists, 11 by academics and one by a former Treasury Secretary.

Do E-Books Threaten Democracy?

6 Feb 2012

Do digital books threaten our democracy? Depends on who you ask. eBooks are on trial once again. This time, they represent nothing short of an existential threat to democracy itself. In the prosecutor's corner we have novelist Jonathan Franzen, playing the role of 'bookservative' and decrying the rise of these anti-democratic digital

E-Books Allow the Return of the Pulps

6 Feb 2012

I must say that The Guardian seems rather sniffy about this, the way that e-books are allowing the return of pulp fiction. E-book sales are being driven by downmarket genre fiction It doesn?t sound like they approve, does it? Kindle-owning bibliophiles are furtive beasts. Their shelves still boast classics and Booker winners. But inside that ...