The Agony Column and the Demise of the Doorstopper

You may have heard me lament about the impending demise of the doorstopper novel. The Agony Column has some useful and interesting things to say about that. If you enjoy big, fat novels in any genre, you ought to know that the bookselling chains are trying to drive such books into extinction on the basis of a belief that wide-spined books play havoc with the ratio of inches of shelf space to profit. If that pisses you off, follow Rick Kleffel's advice on how to tell the bookselling chains of your displeasure. Do it for yourself and readers everywhere. Do it for George R.R. Martin. All right, I'll confess to my self interest: do it for me. Me me me me me. Pretty please.

EDITED 14 June 2005

As Marianne Moore tells us, omissions are not accidents. Please note that I have never blamed the publishing houses for this development in the market. It's a chain bookstore problem.