Page 2: Green Books

Page 2 American Book Review American Book Review Founded 1977 by Ronald Sukenick Published at the School of Arts and Sciences, University of Houston–Victoria American Book Review specializes in reviews of frequently neglected published works of fiction, poetry, literary and cultural criticism from small, regional, university, ethnic, avant-garde, and women’s presses. ABR as a literary journal aims to project the sense of engagement that writers themselves feel about what is being published. It is edited and produced by writers for writers and the general public. Comment on its reviews is encouraged, as are suggestions for future reviews. Send all editorial correspondence or review copies to: American Book Review, University of Houston–Victoria, School of Arts and Sciences, 3007 N. Ben Wilson, Victoria, TX 77901-5731 Telephone: (361) 570-4101 Fax: (361) 580-5501 Email: americanbookreview@uhv.edu Send all subscription correspondence to: American Book Review, University of Houston–Victoria, 3007 N. Ben Wilson, Victoria, TX 77901-5731 Telephone: (361) 570-4101 Email: americanbookreview@uhv.edu© 2009 by American Book Review ISSN 0149-9408. Covers and cover details used by permission. American Book Review appears bimonthly.Annual subscription rates are $24 for a one-year and $40 for a two-year individual subscription; $30 for a one-year institutional subscription; $35 for a one-year foreign, airmail subscription. American Book Review is published by its editors, and is made possible, in part, by generous support from the School ofArts and Sciences, University of Houston–Victoria and Friends of ABR. This project is also supported in part by awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes a great nation deserves great art, and the Texas Commission on the Arts. ABR is also a member of the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses. Trade distribution by Hudson–RPM, 150 Black River Road, Worcester, MA 01607; and Armadillo, 7310 LaCienaga Blvd., Inglewood, CA 90302. Indexed in Humanities International Complete, Book Review Index, Current Contents/Arts & Humanities, and Arts & Humanities Citation Index. http://americanbookreview.org Publisher: Editor: Managing Editor: Assistant Editor: Layout: Subscription Manager: Cover Image: Focus Editor: Publisher Emeritus: Associate Editors: Contributing Editors: Assistants: Jeffrey R. Di Leo Jeffrey R. Di Leo Charles Alcorn David C. Felts David C. Felts Sunitha Subbaiah David C. Felts, “Montaigne Redux in Neon” Thomas Larson Charles B. Harris Mark Amerika, R.M. Berry, C. S. Giscombe, Larry McCaffery, Doug Nufer, Lance Olsen, Kevin Prufer, John Tytell, Barry Wallenstein, Tom Williams, Eric Miles Williamson Rudolfo Anaya, Ron Arias, John Ashbery, Michael Bérubé, Rosellen Brown, Andrei Codrescu, William Demby, Rikki Ducornet, Raymond Federman, William Gass, Russell Hoover, Steve Katz, Clarence Major, Michael McClure, Joyce Carol Oates, Marjorie Perloff, Robert Peters, Corinne Robins, Charles Russell, Paul Schiavo, Barry Seiler, Charles Simic, Bruce Sterling, Regina Weinreich Katie Lauren Moody Page 2 If you find it enjoyable to curl up in bed with a good book, imagine what it would be like curling up with 1,500 good books. Not so cozy? Consider Kindle 2: an electronic reader recently released by Amazon that not only allows you to store seven times as many books as the original version, but also will “read” the books to you—albeit in a computerized voice. The Kindle 2 also allows you to read newspapers, blogs, and magazines, including—hold the presses—ABR! It might be argued that with the rise of the digital age, the book, journal, and newspaper as “paper and ink” objects need to give way to the electronic word. Not only is the paper and ink object more expensive to produce (and reproduce) than its digital double, but the electronic word can be disseminated, searched, destroyed, and recycled far more easily than its material counterpart. If it is indeed the case that the dissemination of the books, magazines, journals, and newspapers that we know and love is more affordable and accessible digitally than physically, then why has the transition been so slow? While legitimate arguments can be made that the quality of digital publication is inferior to print publication or that digital information is easier to “recycle” (viz., plagiarize or use without paying) than printed information, these are just historical, not natural, facts. There is nothing intrinsically inferior...