Radicalism of reading

[Paul DiFilippo]

The quoed reaction of a bookseller who was surprised to find
M&D being bought caused me to think about the new, altered nature
of the act of purchasing such a volume and reading it.  Whereas
hefty postmodern tomes were once seen as establishment icons, and
the reading thereof a somewhat "reactionary" folly, now that
academics and the general public are hopping aboard the trendy
visual input/WWW/pop culture boat, buying and old-fashionedly
reading every single word of a book like M&D has begun to seem
like an act of radical defiance, some kind of Thoreauvian spanner
in the works of mass culture.  To the barricades, M&D in hand!
Typo above:  "quoed" = "quoted"

--
Paul Di Filippo & Deborah Newton/2 Poplar St./Prov., RI 02906
"So far as the interests of the capitalist go it does not matter
whether he invests his money at home or abroad; it does not matter
whether his goods are manufactured in London or Timbuctoo." HG Wells