“Radio is the theater of the mind; television is the theater of the mindless”. Steve Allen, Comic, Actor, Composer and Writer

"A great book should leave you with many experiences, and slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading." - William Styron

William Clark Styron, Jr. (June 11, 1925 – November 1, 2006) was an American novelist and essayist who won major literary awards for his work.^[1]

For much of his career, Styron was best known for his novels, including:

• Lie Down in Darkness (1951), his acclaimed first novel, published at age 26;
• The Confessions of Nat Turner (1967), narrated by Nat Turner, the leader of an 1831 Virginia slave revolt;
• Sophie's Choice (1979), a story "told through the eyes of a young aspiring writer from the South, about a Polish Catholic survivor of Auschwitz and her brilliant but troubled Jewish lover in postwar Brooklyn."^[2]

Styron's influence deepened and his readership expanded with the publication of Darkness Visible in 1990. This memoir, originally intended as a magazine article, chronicled the author's descent into depression and his near-fatal night of "despair beyond despair."

Pynchon Finally Caves on E-Book Availability

June 12, 2012, 4:11 PM

After Long Resistance, Pynchon Allows Novels to Be Sold as E-Books

By JULIE BOSMAN

Thomas Pynchon was one of the last great holdouts: the rare writer who had refused to allow his work to be sold in e-book format.

Now he’s changed his mind.

Mr. Pynchon, the author of “The Crying of Lot 49,” “Gravity’s Rainbow” and “V.,” has struck a deal with the Penguin Press to publish his entire backlist in digital form.

The announcement is another step toward the ubiquity of the e-book, even for authors who stubbornly resisted.

A few years ago, e-book sales were tiny when compared with print sales, but in the last six months, it has not been uncommon for a new novel to sell more e-book copies than print ones. Authors whose work is not for sale in that format risk missing a large and growing segment of the reading population.

Older titles have been especially tantalizing for publishers, who have turned them into e-books and made easy sales.

Mr. Pynchon has avoided the press for most of his life and, characteristically, declined to speak about his decision...

Read More...

A Congressman Finally Demands More Information About Radioactivity from Fukushima

"HOORAY Congressman Markey !  Thank you.  Bless you.   Post this 6/1/2012 letter from Markey to the FDA anywhere you think it might do some good.  Personally, I'm writing a thank you note to this congressman from Massachusetts." - Judith Cosby

Well it's about f*cking time. -Sky Cosby

http://enenews.com/congressman-to-fda-unknown-how-radioactive-fallout-in-us-affected-marine-environment-wants-a-listing-of-all-instances-of-species-found-to-have-elevated-levels

Continuing Research into the Question: Do People Still Read Books? & Other Related Literary Subjects & Statistics

Why do you enjoy reading? What percentage of your reading do you now do online versus hard-copy? 


These questions and many others have been swirling around my brain as of late and led to this post.


Some interesting links and threads... I'm beginning to research changing literacy rates in our country and around the globe... though just because folks can read, doesn't mean they do. Especially when we are constantly bombarded by signage and messages throughout the course of a normal day in society. Without picking up a book, we are subjected to noticing, reading, and processing a vast amount of data, and a lot of it in relatively new formats. 


I read a piece recently about someone who took an amateur survey and just started asking folks to see their digital libraries on their e-readers and pads, and folks would initially claim to read on them and have books... but upon closer inspection a shocking number of libraries were empty, or contained only newspapers and magazines. For shame... I kind of loathe the damn things, and I've still read several books electronically.


After getting bored of my Kindle I just loaded it chock-full of survivalist manuals, .pdfs and apocalyptic reference material of all ilks and crammed it into a 5 gallon bucket with my emergncy gear. Voila! I'll be able to hand-crank charge the sucker and read for a month, educating myself for self-reliance after the bombs drop! :)


If anyone has any interesting book recommendations or little snippets of knowledge, shoot 'em my way, as we're planning on publishing a little pamphlet at Last Word Press eventually on the subject. Send info ATTN: SKY COSBY to lastwordpress@gmail.com and thanks!





http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=202294.0 - Do Young People Still Read Books thread from Prison Planet.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110916034546AAADDjm- Do People Still Read Books Anymore? thread from Yahoo.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/11/19/young_people_reading_a_lot_less/?page=full -

Young people reading a lot less - Report laments the social costs from Boston.com

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/e-readers-rise-but-less-people-reading/story-e6frf7jx-1226320067439 -  E-readers rise, but less people reading