From EBR, countering the persistent popular notion that electronic literature is just reading the classics under glass, Daniel Punday advocates for greater innovation, and more authorial autonomy, at the level of book design; an international group of digital fiction scholars proposes a platform of critical principles, seeking to build the foundation for a truly "digital" approach to literary study; and Laura Dassow Walls explores how "deliberative" reading practices may allow us to weigh the words we hear against the world we cognize. A review of Writing: Theory and History of the Technology of Civilization by Barry Powell. Luddites moan the iPad, Kindle and other e-readers spell the death of books; the ongoing popularity of vinyl records proves otherwise. From NYRB, Sue Alpern on the iPad Revolution and on what the iPad can’t do. Jennifer Havenner on how ebooks have resurrected the printed book. Chris Kubica wants you to imagine the future of books not as physical objects, but as relational databases — and shows how you can rate a single book to the larger ecosystem of books and reading. A review of The Book in the Renaissance by Andrew Pettegree. Digital archives, like that of Salman Rushdie, promise to transform the study of cultural icons. E-reading has really taken off across the pond, but its impact on print seems largely positive (and more). Dennis Baron on the difference between scrolls and codexes. As the lives of books get more exciting, we might discover that our own intellectual lives get a little duller. The book is dead, long live the book: The age of the e-reader has done nothing to kill our thirst for bloated blockbusters. Bookshops closing and authors in penury — will the technological revolution destroy literature, or save it? Inventor Ray Kurzweil is entering the eBook market with software called Blio.
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