It's been a rough couple of weeks in my business. As was reported in the Post-Gazette on Tuesday, the shrinking nature of the newspaper industry is forcing changes in that most traditional of media.

Book review departments in Atlanta, Los Angeles and Chicago took hits recently, but the trend has been moving around the country for several years.

As usually happens when arts coverage in the mass media is seen as under siege, concerns about declines in American culture are stirred up, hyperbole is unleashed and a call to arms issued.

The writing and reading of books persevere regardless. That was the lesson I relearned last week when I sat in on the spiels of several publishers' sales reps as they pitched their companies' upcoming titles to Joseph-Beth bookstore staff members.

Sure, in that way, they're no different from the peddlers of Viagra, sump pumps or beer. Their product is different, though.

Unlike Willy Loman -- "a man out there in the blue riding on a smile and a shoeshine" -- they're selling the buyers the opportunity to work things out on their own, whether it's replacing a garbage disposal or responding to a poet.

And these peddlers clearly loved what they were selling -- simply books -- and their enthusiasm was an effective antidote to all of the moaning and hand-wringing lately.

They proved -- to me, at least -- that the future of books and reading was never in doubt. Literacy programs abound, both here and nationally. Despite fears of a digital takeover of our minds, finding information and entertainment on the Internet requires the ability to read.

Last week I also visited the Festival of Mystery in Oakmont. Organized by Mystery Lovers Bookshop, the program, now in its 12th year, draws more than 50 crime writers and 200 or more of their fans.

The social hall of the Greek Orthodox Church was hot, noisy and full of people with smiles on their faces and armsful of books. The view from here isn't glum, but listen to this modern-day Cassandra:

"Imagine a country where readers aren't even a minority, but an aberration. Picture a country where newspapers gut book coverage and everything else that made them worth saving in the first place. ... Imagine all that and pretty soon writing a letter to the editor or helping gin up a Big Read application for spring by the July 31 deadline starts to look less like sacrifice and more like a mitzvah."

That's David Kippen, putting in a plug on Salon.com for the National Endowment for the Arts, where he runs the federal version of the One Book, One Community program, plus issuing the obligatory "the end is nigh" warning.

His program is doing well. Seventy-two communities so far have taken government money and followed NEA directives for choosing from 16 approved titles to entice their citizens to read a book. They also had to agree to several curious demands.

One is to "actively generate positive media attention through local TV, radio and print media (emphasis added)." Note that TV and radio are stressed ahead of the paper, suggesting that organizers might want to avoid inviting Kippen to make a PR appearance.

To help, the NEA has produced public-service announcements for TV "customized for your community," but nothing for the local rag to print. Organizers "must distribute and use" those announcements, leaving newspapers to come up with something on their own.

Another requirement is to enlist the cooperation of "a military base representative if applicable." That's in there because defense contractor Boeing is a contributor to the Big Read. I'll say no more.

The final bit of odd news coming from Big Read headquarters is that after showing such deeply felt concern about the death of reading in America, the NEA is expanding its efforts to -- Russia.

The Big Readski will encourage the reading of "To Kill a Mockingbird" in Russian communities in October.

What all of these efforts has to do with rescuing American culture from extinction is lost somewhere in the mists of Bush administration politics.

It's another take on the "You can lead a horse to water ..." adage. It will take more than a catchy TV spot or a few Boeing bucks to make us drink, or think.

Final word: "If you don't read a newspaper, you're never a day behind."

-- Don DeLillo