Random musing: the Primacy of Print

Today sees the release of Shit My Dad Says, a book by Justin Halpern.  Justin maintains the incredibly funny and honest @shitmydadsays Twitter feed, which is, as the name would suggest, comprised solely of quipps and quotes from his father. It's one of my favourite Twitter feeds.  I can't wait to read the book and I wish Justin the best of luck with it (not that he needs any), but it did get me thinking. 

All the pundits talk about the end of the book as a dead-tree artifact; Jock Given reviewed two books on the subject just recently (the irony of publishing hardcopy books about the "death" of hardcopy books seems to be lost in the hyperbole).  But the fact remains, ever since Julie Powell hit paydirt with an offer from a serious publisher to convert her Julie/Julia Project into a book (and, since then, a movie deal), the dead-tree artifact has become the holy grail for bloggers.  Many people now start blogging with the expressed intention of nailing a book deal (presumably without all that pesky "actually writing a book" and "shlepping it from agent to agent, publisher to publisher in the hopes of getting a nibble").

I'm not climbing to the summit of the moral ground hear; I'd do any number of unsavoury things to get a book deal.  It's just that, well, aren't books the thing we're supposed to be getting away from by embracing electronic media and providing free entertainment for the future millions of ereader and iPad users?

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On a related note, I'd just like to give a shout-out to one of my favourite "useful" bloggers, Jen Mayer of 24 Boxes fame.  Jen has a recipe book out, which you can order here.  I have to confess that I haven't read the book, but if it's as good as the recipes she's posted over the last couple of years I've been following her, than it'll be work the exorbident freight costs from the US.