The Bookseller.com

2nd December 2008

Sutherland: lit-crit has moved online

10.07.08

John Sutherland admits what many have been suggesting for some time, that the "liveliest opinion and the sharpest exchanges" about books are currently to be found on the weblog.

Writing in the Guardian, Sutherland says that newspaper-hosted lit-crit is on its last legs. "'Last legs' is no exaggeration. I spend up to half the year in the US, where my daily paper there, the Los Angeles Times, has amputated its once distinguished literary supplement and grafted a stump thereof onto the 'Opinion' (ie current affairs and editorial) section. The result is a dog's dinner. Crap-crit."

So finally, he concedes: "When you come down to it, lit-crit is opinion. The liveliest opinion and the sharpest exchanges are currently to be found on the weblog. One's only reservation is that, writing against the clock, bloggers often write hastily and thoughtlessly."

Guardian

Scott Pack blogs Home John Sutherland lit crit

Comments on this article