Suchergebnisse

DESPITE IMPRESSIVE SALES GAINS IN RECENT DECADES & SUBSTANTIAL GROWTH IN THE NUMBER OF BOOK BUYERS, THE TRADEBOOK, MASS MARKET, & PROFESSIONAL BOOK PUBLISHERS ARE HANDICAPPED BY SERIOUS WEAKNESSES IN THE RETAIL DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM UPON WHICH THE BULK OF THEIR MARKETING DEPENDS. THE INDUSTRY HAS LARGELY ITSELF TO BLAME FOR THESE DIFFICULTIES. PUBLISHERS ARE PRODUCING MANY MORE TITLES THAN THE MARKET CAN ABSORB. RETAILERS OFTEN OFFER ONLY LIMITED TITLE SELECTIONS TO THEIR CLIENTELE, THUS ALIENATING THE SPECIAL INTEREST CUSTOMERS THAT CONSTITUTE THE LARGE MAJORITY OF SERIOUS BOOK BUYERS. THE INDUSTRY HAS FAILED TO DEVELOP AN EFFECTIVE FULFILLMENT SYSTEM BY WHICH SPECIALIZED TITLES COULD BE EFFICIENTLY DELIVERED ON SPECIAL ORDER. THE PROBLEM CALLS FOR INDUSTRYWIDE COOPERATIVE ACTION WHICH HAS THUS FAR FAILED TO MATERIALIZE. THERE ARE INDICATIONS THAT A NEW GENERATION OF PUBLISHING & RETAIL MANAGERS IS MORE RECEPTIVE TO NEW APPROACHES, OFFERING HOPE FOR AN EVENTUAL SOLUTION. MODIFIED HA.

An appraisal of the plight of America's Ur poor, which takes issue with Edward C. Banfield's THE UNHEAVENLY CITY (see SA 1218/E6394), which stated that the poor of our central cities are better off than ever before. Banfield's proposals to curb inflation by allowing unemployment to rise, & to pay unskilled labor only what it is worth by doing away with minimum wage laws, as well as his contention that the 'Statistical Negro' no longer suffers from racial prejudice, are sharply criticized. Banfield's citations reveal a heavy reliance on sources published prior to 1966, a fact which questions the validity of his conclusions. Amer priorities are in urgent need of reassessment. It is absurd for a nation to spend $25 billion to send a man to the moon, when it cannot provide decent housing, free of rats & roaches, for large numbers of Ur dwellers. Another indictment of this nation's lack of commitment to the poor is its phenomenal infant mortality rate, which ranks 18th safest, just above Hong Kong. European countries have shown that increased financial assistance for the poor along with massive efforts to do away with appalling living conditions can make cities alive & vibrant. M. Duke.

PUBLISHING IS AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE TOTAL INTELLECTUAL SYSTEM OF ANY NATION OF AN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONSHIP OF CULTURAL & EDUCATIONAL MATTERS. PUBLISHERS ARE VERY MUCH INFLUENCED BY CURRENTS IN THEIR SOCIETIES. SUCH FACTORS AS LEVELS OF LITERACY, HABITS OF BOOK PURCHASING, LIBRARIES, COPYRIGHT REGULATIONS, & BOOKSTORES HAVE AN IMPACT ON THE NATURE OF PUBLISHING & THE BOOK INDUSTRY. THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM, A PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT CONSUMER OF BOOKS, IS CRUCIAL TO PUBLISHING. IN INDUSTRIALIZED NATIONS, WHERE LEVELS OF LITERACY ARE HIGH, IT IS LIKELY THAT PUBLISHING WILL BE HIGHLY DEVELOPED ALTHOUGH IT IS UNDER INCREASING ATTACK FROM TV & OTHER MASS MEDIA. IN THE THIRD WORLD, THE MASS MEDIA ARE NOT HIGHLY DEVELOPED & BOOKS HAVE A PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT ROLE. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO IGNORE THE BROADER ELEMENTS OF THE MODERN INTELLECTUAL COMMUNITY IN DISCUSSING PUBLISHING; BOOKS CONTINUE TO PLAY A KEY ROLE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE COMMUNITY & OF THE CULTURE IN GENERAL. 1 FIGURE. HA.

A critical review of Edward Banfield's THE UNHEAVENLY CITY (see SA 1218/F6394), which put to rest the notion that the US is comparatively free of a hierarchical soc & econ class structure. Banfield's assumptions, 'facts,' & analytical approach are found wanting. Banfield eulogizes the upper & Mc's, & confuses the characteristics he identifies as Lc with soc & racial characteristics. Discussing the present-orientedness & psychol'al incapabilities of the Lc, he tangles causes & analytic properties. Banfield's conservatism is characterized by his approval as well as acceptance of the Amer system as he understands it. Banfield's failure to consider the 'facts' of Me & Uc selfishness or morality is a case in point of the subjectivity, the value-shaping process, of conceptualization that points to some facts but not other facts. Banfield's simplistic conservatism resembles that of a Spiro Agnew. That Banfield is quite right in demonstrating the hopelessness of well-intended but minor reforms should lead no one to his inference & guiding postulate that 'fundamental reforms' are Impossible or unwise in a 'free society.' M. Duke.