The knowledge and the thought of all the ages

Municipal enterprise and private generosity: The Great American Dream

Municipal enterprise and private generosity: The Great American Dream

Well, I didn’t absorb quite all of it. But I did learn a few bits and pieces...

1) In the Brooklyn Barnes & Noble, the YA section is just about bigger than the adult fiction section. ‘High School Fiction’ is a thing. And the key to being a blockbuster bestseller is clearly to be shelved in at least six different areas within the one store.*

2) Almost ALL the paperback editions of YA books advertise some kind of ‘bonus content’. Is it to convince people who already own the hardback to buy the book again? Is it because paperbacks sell to the educational market? Is it because the marketplace is so crowded that the book itself isn’t enough?

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3) Downton Abbey is now its own publishing genre.

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A personal favourite

A personal favourite

4) If you wait long enough at Lantern Waste you won’t necessarily see a faun. But you will see children tobogganing, dogs in coats, and people FaceTiming in public

Lantern Waste, up-river, west of Beaversdam, where the RoyalChildren first appeared in Narnia, as the records tell.

Lantern Waste, up-river, west of Beaversdam, where the RoyalChildren first appeared in Narnia, as the records tell.

5) Half a bagel is never enough.

I also learned what a quarter pound of cream cheese looks like. Not as big as one might imagine.

I also learned what a quarter pound of cream cheese looks like. Not as big as one might imagine.

So there is still some knowledge to be gleaned, some thoughts to be had, but not a bad start, I think.

 

*Or is the key to being shelved in at least six different areas being a blockbuster bestseller?