Book Matters: The Changing Nature of Literacy by Alan Sica (English) Paperback B

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Scholars have been puzzling over the "future of the book" since Marshall McLuhan's famous maxim "the medium is the message" in the early 1950s.

FORMATPaperback LANGUAGEEnglish CONDITIONBrand New Publisher Description

Scholars have been puzzling over the "future of the book" since Marshall McLuhan's famous maxim "the medium is the message" in the early 1950s. McLuhan famously argued that electronic media was creating a global village in which books would become obsolete. Such views were ahead of their time, but today they are all too relevant as declining sales, even among classic texts, have become a serious matter in academic publishing. Does anyone still read long and complex works, either from the past or the present? Is the role of a professional reader and reviewer of manuscripts still relevant? Book Matters closely analyses these questions and others. Alan Sica surmises that the concentration span required for studying and discussing complex texts has slipped away, as undergraduate classes are becoming inundated by shorter, easier-to-teach scholarly and literary works. He considers such matters in part from the point of view of a former editor of scholarly journals. In an engaging style, he gives readers succinct analyses of books and ideas that once held the interest of millions of discerning readers, such as Simone de Beavoir's Second Sex and the works of David Graham Phillips and C. Wright Mills, among others. Book Matters is not a nostalgic cry for lost ideas, but instead a stark reminder of just how aware and analytically illuminating certain scholars were prior to the Internet, and how endangered the book is in this era of pixelated communication.

Author Biography

Alan Sica is professor of sociology and director of the Social Thought Program at Pennsylvania State University, USA. Editor of the ASA Journal Sociological Theory from 1989 to 1994 and now of Contemporary Sociology, his books include Weber, Irrationality, and Social Order; Ideologies and the Corruption of Thought; Max Weber and the New Century; and Max Weber: A Comprehensive Bibliography.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Distractions from the Printed WordPrinted Books and Electronic Gear Connecting Past and Present Virtuoso ReadingPart One. The Art of Reading and Reviewing1. Speaking One's Mind Being Unafraid Nice Nellyism Triumphant Teasing Out the Richly Embedded Nuance Overseeing a Book Review Journal2. For the (Printed) Book Defining the Academic Library Saving the Scholarly Book Reviewing Books Online Real Ink on Real Paper Globalized Book Publishing3. Expressing Oneself A New Categorical Imperative Friends and Acquaintances Pigeonholes of Content Another Note about Categories Behind the Scenes: What and Who Counts Looking Back to Understand the FuturePart Two. Past Masters Reconsidered4. Origin of the Public Sphere: Addison and Steele5. The Masses Meet Social Science: Everyman and The Modern Library6. Noble Muckraking: David Graham Phillips7. Integrated Scholarship: Booker T. Washington, Robert E. Park, and W. E. B. Du Bois8. The Textbook that Codified a School: Robert Park and Ernest Burgess9. The Maddening University: Upton Sinclair and Ben Ginsberg10. The Journalist as Social Scientist: Walter Lippmann11. Facing the Irrational Fearlessly: Vilfredo Pareto12. The Necessary Big Picture: Lewis Mumford13. Unsurpassable Greatness: Max Weber14. Founding Feminism for Intellectuals: Simone de Beauvoir15. Micro Meets Macro: Hans Gerth and C. Wright Mills16. Sociological Psychiatry: Harry Stack Sullivan17. Post-war America Defined Again: Max Lerner18. When Theory Tipped the Scales: Talcott Parsons and Associates19. Living Theory?: A Pedagogical Debate20. Virtuoso Reviewing Today: Andrew AbbottCoda: Tribute to Irving Louis HorowitzReferencesIndex

Review

-Bibliophile, virtuoso editor, and passionate advocate for engaging sociological writing, Alan Sica explains eloquently why books matter in the -digital age.- He illustrates the value of the written word and joy of reading by traversing in rich biographical and historical context a diverse swath of exemplars of the best writing, editing, and thinking by social theorists, public intellectuals, and critics for more than a century.- --Robert Antonio, University of Kansas -Alan Sica loves books--physical, ink-on-paper, bound books. He also loves libraries that preserve these books, publishers who print them, and reviewers who critically engage them. Book Matters is an impassioned attempt to pry us away from our distracting electronic devices. But this is not a rant by a curmudgeonly Luddite. Sica is a scholar, and his book is a paean to the art of careful reading. Like the -slow food- movement, he champions -slow reading.- For Sica, reading is more like a sacrament than a diversion. He delights in the discovery of forgotten texts, not because there is nothing new under the sun, but because scholarship depends on a deep understanding of what came before. Taking ideas seriously requires a critical engagement with historical works, even if this means spending time deciphering dusty volumes by vilified authors from the past. This witty and learned book is a fiery plea to sit down and read.- --Christine Williams, University of Texas at Austin -Alan Sica, himself a fabled editor and bibliophile, has produced an unusual work--a writerly meditation on reading, authorship, reviewing, and teaching--by way of examples of serious books about social topics by academics and the -public intellectuals- of the twentieth century. It recalls the great days of the printed book and those who sustained its culture, but it is more than a lament or momento mori: it is also a call to preserve what remains.- --Stephen Turner, University of South Florida"Bibliophile, virtuoso editor, and passionate advocate for engaging sociological writing, Alan Sica explains eloquently why books matter in the "digital age." He illustrates the value of the written word and joy of reading by traversing in rich biographical and historical context a diverse swath of exemplars of the best writing, editing, and thinking by social theorists, public intellectuals, and critics for more than a century." --Robert Antonio, University of Kansas "Alan Sica loves books--physical, ink-on-paper, bound books. He also loves libraries that preserve these books, publishers who print them, and reviewers who critically engage them. Book Matters is an impassioned attempt to pry us away from our distracting electronic devices. But this is not a rant by a curmudgeonly Luddite. Sica is a scholar, and his book is a paean to the art of careful reading. Like the "slow food" movement, he champions "slow reading." For Sica, reading is more like a sacrament than a diversion. He delights in the discovery of forgotten texts, not because there is nothing new under the sun, but because scholarship depends on a deep understanding of what came before. Taking ideas seriously requires a critical engagement with historical works, even if this means spending time deciphering dusty volumes by vilified authors from the past. This witty and learned book is a fiery plea to sit down and read." --Christine Williams, University of Texas at Austin "Alan Sica, himself a fabled editor and bibliophile, has produced an unusual work--a writerly meditation on reading, authorship, reviewing, and teaching--by way of examples of serious books about social topics by academics and the "public intellectuals" of the twentieth century. It recalls the great days of the printed book and those who sustained its culture, but it is more than a lament or momento mori: it is also a call to preserve what remains." --Stephen Turner, University of South Florida

Review Text

"Bibliophile, virtuoso editor, and passionate advocate for engaging sociological writing, Alan Sica explains eloquently why books matter in the "digital age." He illustrates the value of the written word and joy of reading by traversing in rich biographical and historical context a diverse swath of exemplars of the best writing, editing, and thinking by social theorists, public intellectuals, and critics for more than a century." --Robert Antonio, University of Kansas "Alan Sica loves books--physical, ink-on-paper, bound books. He also loves libraries that preserve these books, publishers who print them, and reviewers who critically engage them. Book Matters is an impassioned attempt to pry us away from our distracting electronic devices. But this is not a rant by a curmudgeonly Luddite. Sica is a scholar, and his book is a paean to the art of careful reading. Like the "slow food" movement, he champions "slow reading." For Sica, reading is more like a sacrament than a diversion. He delights in the discovery of forgotten texts, not because there is nothing new under the sun, but because scholarship depends on a deep understanding of what came before. Taking ideas seriously requires a critical engagement with historical works, even if this means spending time deciphering dusty volumes by vilified authors from the past. This witty and learned book is a fiery plea to sit down and read." --Christine Williams, University of Texas at Austin "Alan Sica, himself a fabled editor and bibliophile, has produced an unusual work--a writerly meditation on reading, authorship, reviewing, and teaching--by way of examples of serious books about social topics by academics and the "public intellectuals" of the twentieth century. It recalls the great days of the printed book and those who sustained its culture, but it is more than a lament or momento mori: it is also a call to preserve what remains." --Stephen Turner, University of South Florida

Details ISBN1412865026 Author Alan Sica Short Title BK MATTERS Language English ISBN-10 1412865026 ISBN-13 9781412865029 Media Book Format Paperback Birth 1949 Affiliation Pennsylvania State University, USA Pennsylvania State University Penns Year 2016 DEWEY 809 Illustrations black & white illustrations Country of Publication United States Publication Date 2016-10-30 AU Release Date 2016-10-30 NZ Release Date 2016-10-30 US Release Date 2016-10-30 UK Release Date 2016-10-30 Subtitle The Changing Nature of Literacy Pages 282 Publisher Taylor & Francis Inc Alternative 9781412864329 Audience Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly Imprint Routledge Place of Publication New York We've got this

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