And Then He Reviewed Another Book

My column today is part of a new campaign by the National Book Critics Circle. It has a slightly different contributor's note this time:

Scott McLemee writes Intellectual Affairs each week. He has reviewed books for The New York Times, Newsday, The Boston Globe and The Nation, and he takes George Orwell's description of the book critic as "a man pouring his soul down the drain a pint at a time" rather personally.

Very true. Be that as it may, I'm doing my little bit for the cause, and hope it gets some circulation among librarians and university-press folk.

UPDATE: This is a good sign. Librarians are the organic intellectuals whose role is least appreciated. They give a lot of thought to media of all kinds, and they play an important part in organizing and distributing knowledge. I wrote that column with a very strong sense that getting them on our side is, to use the old expression, an urgent task.

(Would I be saying this if my wife were not a librarian? Let's just say that it is a complexly overdetermined matter, and that with the benefit of hindsight marrying one does seem like destiny. Also, as I've said many times, the single smartest thing I've ever done in my life.)

MORE: Links at Romenesko and ArtsJournal. This is all very encouraging.