On Short Books
January 30th, 2008Keir Graff – Will shorter books save reading?
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January 30th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
Save? I didn’t even know it was lost!
Since a lot of nonfiction books these days are novella length, Graff actually has an interesting point. SFWA defines a novella as between 17,500 and 40,000 words; you’ll find a lot of library books and other nonfiction books coming in under the 40,000-word mark (including First Have Something to Say, to be sure). [A typical issue of Cites & Insights is novella-length, but only as a whole.]
There are many great novellas. There are many great longer novels. People keep buying more books and checking more books out from libraries. Somehow, somewhere, I don’t believe reading ever got lost…quite apart from all that onscreen reading we all do.
February 1st, 2008 at 12:19 pm
Harry Potter has done more to “save” reading than about any other book published in the last decade. Short is the last word I’d use to describe JK’s writing style.