The Casual Optimist Posts

As announced in December last year, The Globe and Mail replaced its standalone Books tabloid with a combined ‘Focus and Books’ section this weekend, simultaneously launching a new Books website that will feature, amongst other things, daily book reviews, news on books and the publishing industry, and blogs by Globe Book’s online communities editor Peter Scowen and Books editor Martin Levin.

In context of the numerous issues facing newspapers internationally, and the rapid decline of book review coverage in the US (and elsewhere) in recent years, the Globe’s long-foreshadowed shake-up has garnered barely a murmur outside of Canada. Nevertheless there has been some lively discussion on several Canadian book blogs.

Describing it as a “an inauspicious start” and “a work in progress”, That Shakespeherian Rag gives the new books coverage a thorough critical mauling, drawing particular attention a egregious error regarding the 2008 Giller Prize-winning novel Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden, and several other missteps. The Literary Lad’s final verdict: “[A] mixed, but generally underwhelming bag, with the online component scoring better than the new print format… Let’s hope that the early hiccoughs are just that, and not an indication of how things are to be run in the long term.”

Mark at INDEX // mb , who has clearly given this a lot of thought (he’s written about the launch too), isn’t keen on the presentation, but does give credit where he thinks it’s due: “The Globe team have given us a great online destination for Canadian readers. Congratulations to them for planning, creating, and delivering the new site.”

And despite some initial disappointments, Hugh at Book Oven is also optimistic, noting that the “decision to not just quietly kill their book section, as so many other papers have, but to relocate it is encouraging.”

Like Hugh, I’m grateful the Globe has decided to maintain some kind of book coverage in what is a horribly toxic environment for newspapers and book reviews. And I know book review editors (particularly, perhaps, Canadian ones) have a truly thankless task —  trying to please everyone means, inevitably, you please nobody (least of all bloggers!).

I am personally sad, however, to see two distinct sections that I liked unceremoniously (and somewhat incoherently) brought together in a expedient shotgun wedding. No doubt Focus and Books will grow into its new identity and improve with time, but the result this weekend lacked clarity and a sense of purpose. The new features appeared, well, rather desperate.

The online component — technical issues aside — feels a little belated to me and the Globe is lagging behind the extensive book coverage to be found elsewhere on the web, notably at the New York Times and the Guardian who committed earlier to being online. Better late than never though, and with an authoritative and informed focus on the Canadian literary scene, the Globe might be able to carve out a niche for itself given time.

Peter Scowen — who has been honourably responding  to the critical reactions on the Globe’s In Other Words blog — notes that the online launch did not go “without a hiccup” and I don’t suppose that producing the new print section was straightforward. Perhaps it is really too early to tell how this will all play out? Still, I must confess to being strangely ambivalent about the new section and website. With layoff expected at the Globe any day now, I can’t shake the feeling that they’re re-arranging the deckchairs…