The primacy of the Internet in our culture has never been so clear as the 2008 presidential race plods to a conclusion.
There are more political blogs than convention delegates.
Every political junkie, from the woman who ran for home-room representative to the guy who has a Ron Paul bumper sticker can now be a bona-fide pundit, certified by the Net's odd power to grant anyone access to an audience.
No longer will a few veteran journalists or columnists like H.L. Mencken or Walter Lippmann explain the issues and the candidates' positions. We now have thousands of places to go to help us make up our minds, if that's at all possible amid the undisciplined din of the blogosphere.
Before taking this explosion of digital words for granted, read Lee Siegel's provocative criticism of the Web, "Against The Machine: Being Human in the Age of the Electronic Mob" (Spiegel & Grau, $22.95).
An entertainment and culture critic, Siegel's own career is tangled up with on-line publications from Salon.com to the Web version of the New Republic, so he's a veteran user -- and abuser.
Siegel was suspended by the New Republic two years ago for praising himself under a fake name on the magazine's blog.
His short book is a result, in part, of that event, which he describes in his introduction.
Siegel is concerned that we have accepted the Web's ability to blur distinctions, reduce experience to a common denominator of being human and emphasize imitation, ordinariness and popularity over originality, expertise and education. Praised for its so-called democracy, the Internet has led to a dictatorial kind of egalitarianism.
What caught my attention was Siegel's endorsement of "old media" like newspapers, now struggling in the face of the Internet's popularity.
"Culture needs authoritative institutions like a powerful newspaper," he writes. "It needs them both to protect its critical, independent spirit and to make sure that culture's voice gets heard in the larger din of more powerful economic and political entities."
As many papers reduce or drop the reviewing and coverage of books, the welter of "literary" bloggers promises to replace the validated work of professional critics and editors.
"With all its various centers of power and checks and balances, a newspaper is a lot less biased -- for all its commercial pressures -- and a lot less susceptible to hostile influences than the unchecked ego and will of a single blogger," Siegel believes.
A book review in the Post-Gazette and other newspapers is the product of several people, from me, the editor who selects the book and its reviewer, to the critic to several editors who read the review and point out problems and errors in reasoning, fact and language.
Then we publish it. If mistakes persist, we correct them in print. Bloggers have no responsibility or obligation, except their own personal integrity, to do any of the above.
The newspaper book page is therefore an "authority," backed by several levels. Authority, however, is not a core value of the Internet mentality, Siegel writes. Just being alive and having access to a computer are enough to qualify one to write a blog.
To placate the hundreds of proud literary bloggers out there, it should be pointed out that many experienced, talented people, Siegel included, are among that 70 million strong. How you find the good ones is anybody's guess.
Siegel has many targets of attack in his short book -- the cheerful vacuity of David Brooks, the glitzy hypocrisy of "American Idol," the undeserved validation of Wikipedia as a reliable source and the gloomy truth that what best-selling author Malcolm Gladwell hails as important are merely good marketing skills.
"Against The Machine" is a healthy dose of iconoclasm on a service that so many accept as crucial. What Siegel omits is that for most intelligent, sensible adults, the Internet is only a service, not a way of life.
Some of us still read books, write letters, shop at real stores and make up our own minds about art, film, drama or music.
The National Book Critics Circle continues to work aggressively to raise its national visibility after years of being content to quietly discuss books among its members. And powering the publicity campaign is the Internet.
The circle's latest effort is "Good Reads," formerly called "Best Recommended List." Using e-mail, the NBCC collects a selection of favorite new books from the membership, then announces the results using e-mail. The first results were out in the fall, and last week, it released its February findings.
"Sure, there are plenty of lists out there," goes the NBCC justification for coming up with yet another list, "but it seemed few took advantage of the enormous (sometimes overwhelming) connectivity provided by the internet."
Meaning, I guess, that the circle was moved to do it because the Internet makes it quick and easy. This poll could have been done years ago by regular mail, but doing it that way takes days to complete, and then there are all those stamps to lick.
The circle polls its 800 or so members via e-mail for book recommendations and also includes input from whom it calls "luminaries." These are nonmembers whose books have been recognized by the circle over the years. It's an impressive collection, to be sure, lending real heft to the project.
Here are the five "good reads" in fiction this month in order, as determined from about 600 responses of members and assorted luminaries:
"Tree of Smoke" by Denis Johnson, "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" by Junot Diaz, "Diary of a Bad Year" by J.M. Coetzee, "People of the Book" by Geraldine Brooks, and "Zeroville" by Steve Erickson. It was the second time for Johnson and Diaz on the circle's list
There's some irony here, though. "Tree of Smoke," cited twice by NBCC members and winner of the National Book Award in November, failed to make the cut to be among the circle's finalists for its annual best fiction prize.
That omission can be explained by the fact that the circle's board picks the finalists and then the winners for the annual honors as the members look on from the sidelines.
Gee, with all of this "enormous connectivity" out there, maybe it's time for the NBCC to "take advantage" of it to connect its board a little closer to the thinking of the members in order to come up with more than "best reads," but best books of the year.
Although that process has echoes of the "People's Choice" silliness, it is more democratic and isn't that something the Internet promises?
You can find out the NBCC's other "best reads" at http://bookcriticscircle.blogspot.com/. Another list is due in the spring.
Frank Wilson has retired as the Philadelphia Inquirer's book editor. Literate, humorous and modest, Wilson will be missed, especially by me. I could depend on him for his wisdom and sage insight at a time when those commodities are fading from the national debate about books.
First Published: February 10, 2008, 5:00 a.m.
