Words and Money (review)

In Words and Money, Andre Schiffrin further develops his argument—advanced in two previous books, A Political Education (Hoboken, N.J.: Melville House Publishing, 2007) and The Business of Books (New York: Verso, 2001)—about the importance of a diverse and independent civic culture. Whereas The Business of Books focused primarily on book publishing, Words and Money goes a step further, positioning the publishing industry alongside recent trends in cinema, television, newspapers, bookstores, and libraries across the world. In the process, Schiffrin considers what the increasing digitization of media and the concomitant rise of Web-based monoliths such as Google and Amazon might mean for the future, not only of the printed word, but for culture at large.

Schiffrin sees little reason to celebrate. Many European countries formerly adopted strict measures to protect their cultural products from market pressures, but Schiffrin finds that the financial crisis has accelerated a worldwide tendency toward the kinds of neoliberal, deregulatory practices primarily associated with the United States. Words and Money offers some practical countermeasures to these current trends. Citing some of the more successful models found in Norway, France, and Japan, Schiffrin's proposals invariably call for an increase in direct government support to important cultural sectors and a strengthening of regulations designed to protect traditional sites from what he refers to as "highbrow" culture.

Schiffrin, who has fifty years of experience in book publishing, begins with a review of the history of his profession. Until very recently, he argues, "publishing was seen as a profession, not just a business." (p. 1) Only a few decades ago, before smaller firms began to be bought out by large media conglomerates, Schiffrin argues, a profit range of three to four percent was perfectly sufficient for a publishing house. Now, an independent publishing house simply cannot deliver the financial results required by banks and speculators accustomed to the much larger profits associated with radio and television.

Words and Money diagnoses similar trends with respect to cinema and bookstores, showing how the rise of movie multiplexes and chain booksellers has typically meant fewer and fewer art films and intellectually challenging books. Schiffrin points out that the percentage of foreign films shown in the United States has dropped in recent history from ten percent to less than one percent. Reiterating an example from The Business of Books, Schiffrin observes that there were 333 bookshops in Manhattan in 1945, and that now there are only about 30, including the chain stores. Though suffering from similar effects, France, Schiffrin informs us, nonetheless takes measures to support independent film and small booksellers. There the proceeds from a tax on movie tickets help fund French filmmakers and cinema owners. Meanwhile, the loi Lang, a law that fixes the price of books, prevents independent bookstores from being undersold.

In what is perhaps the most compelling chapter of the book, Schiffrin deals at length with the decline of newspapers, detailing the number of jobs cut, the industry-wide drop in sales, the plummeting ad revenue, and the rash of bankruptcies affecting papers across the country. But, he reminds us, this is a crisis that has been developing since the 1950s, when the print media began losing clients to television. Again, Schiffrin looks to other countries for examples of success, finding that Japan, in particular, raises questions about the inevitability of the American experience. "Overall sales," he writes, "are 624 papers per thousand persons, two-and-a-half times greater than the US figures, with more than one paper delivered to every household." (p. 67)

At the end of this slim volume, Schiffrin articulates what he sees as the major threat posed by Google and Amazon's involvement in library holdings. He considers ways in which the government could help, for instance, by making moves to digitize all the books in the Library of Congress. Schiffrin even goes so far as to consider the benefits of public ownership of Google, "since in this case we are talking about a common cultural heritage." (p. 111) Schiffrin...