Among the dumber received ideas, is that the computer, or the Internet, or the Compact Disc Read-Only Memory (CD-ROM) would do away with the book.

Codex

What people nowadays call, casually, a "book" is but one kind of book—printed leaves of paper, sewn or glued together on one edge. The precise name for this portable, printed, bound book is "codex".

Besides the codex, there are many other kinds of book, such as the scroll. The CD ROM is just another form of book.

Distribution

In fact, I think that, perhaps what is meant by "book", in talking about the demise of the book, is not the codex, but actually the system of distribution and the publishing industry which supports it.

Computer technology, if anything, has saved the codex. It has never been easier, or cheaper, to make and publish a codex, thanks to the computerization of editing, printing, and distribution.

This is the Golden Age of the Book!

A Con Artist's Criminal Charm. This season, there seems to be a notable number of books, fiction and nonfiction, about con artists and their cons. By Martin Arnold. [New York Times: Arts]

A Novel's Jab Is Rattling Book World in Germany. Martin Walser, one of modern Germany's finest novelists, has always embraced controversy. This time, the uproar has arisen over a book that has not even yet seen print. By Steven Erlanger. [New York Times: International]

Read any good books lately? Hyde Park Review of Books Quarterly review of quality fiction and serious nonfiction from small, medium, independent and University presses.

"The Antidote to the Incredibly Shrinking Review Section"

[Craig's BookNotes This is about the only book-related item therein. This newsfeed will be dropped henceforth]