Hank Paulson's literary bailout

Julian Gough sends us his NYT piece, "A Modest Proposal For The Publishing Industry": "It's a piece in yesterday's New York Times. It's a parody of all the recent, massive, Treasury bailout plans. (Having done banks, insurance and cars, the Treasury are now solve the unread books crisis for us). It is written as an official statement from Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, using language taken directly from all his real statements (with just a few key words changed)."

"As we all know, lax writing practices earlier this decade led to irresponsible writing and irresponsible reading. This simply put too many families into books they could not finish. We are seeing the impact on readers and neighborhoods, with 5 million readers now behind on their reading. Some are just walking away from novels they should never have been reading in the first place. What began as a sub-prime reading problem has spread to other, less-risky readers, and contributed to excess inventories.

These troubled novels are now parked, or frozen, on the shelves of libraries, bookstores, and other reading institutions, preventing them from financing readable novels. The inability to determine the worth of these novels has fostered uncertainty about novels in general, and even about the cultural condition of the institutions that own them. The normal buying and selling of nearly all types of literature has become challenged.

The role of the ratings agencies cannot be overlooked in the creation of this crisis. The Pulitzer, Booker and the National Book Foundation continued to award these novels their top ratings, even as unread copies piled up all over America.

A Modest Proposal For The Publishing Industry on nytimes.com (stupid registration required), A Modest Proposal For The Publishing Industry on Julian's site (no registration required!) (Thanks, Julian!)

[#1 posted by Anonymous , January 6, 2009 6:34 AM]

"It's a parody of all the recent, massive, Treasury bailout plans." As well as Swift's original 'Modest Proposal' no?

[#2 posted by Anonymous , January 6, 2009 7:04 AM]

The NYT has well and truly skewered Paulson. Beware satire - it can kill.

[#3 posted by aluxeterna , January 6, 2009 7:41 AM]

HA! That was quite entertaining.

I will add, though, that the NYT has a slightly darker take on the publishing industry in David Streitfeld's December 27th article Bargain Hunting for Books, and Feeling Sheepish about It. I have no idea how that problem is going to be figured out.

[#4 posted by dysolution , January 6, 2009 8:03 AM]

Won't someone please consider the beer? http://johnsonroad.net/blog/2009/01/06/the-big-beer-bailout/

[#5 posted by igpajo , January 6, 2009 8:42 AM]

Oh noes, it's another internet meme.

[#6 posted by Anonymous , January 6, 2009 10:13 AM]

reminds me of this:
http://www.harpers.org/archive/2008/09/hbc-90003617

[#7 posted by Patrick Dodds , January 6, 2009 10:37 AM]

Perhaps the RIAA needs to get in on the bailout thing? If anyone is in need of a new business model it is they.