As the eBook revolution begins, some of literature’s most respected writers are joining the great experiment. Today’s guest on the Morning Media Menu was critically acclaimed novelist Paul Theroux–discussing his new novel, A Dead Hand: A Crime in Calcutta.
Over his long career, Theroux (pictured, via Yingyong Un-anongrak) has written many novels and travel books, including The Mosquito Coast, Dark Star Safari, and The Great Railway Bazaar. During the interview, he pondered digital books, his recent Kindle-only Atlantic story, and his surreal adventures while visiting Michael Jackson’s home.
Press play on the embedded player below to listen. The show will be archived around the mediabistro.com network as well.
Here’s an excerpt: “I think it’s a very, very strange thing. I can’t say it’s good or bad. The big danger is copyright infringement. Stealing books and sharing books without paying for them. What could happen to the publishing industry is what happened to the music industry. It was destroyed. Absolutely destroyed. People don’t buy cd’s anymore, they share [MP3s], they swap them, and they steal them. That could happen with books. The upside is that … my [Atlantic piece] is a 17,000 word story. You could open the New Yorker and you won’t find a 17,000 word story. That’s a big, it’s more than twice as long as the longest story … The technological part is great, but the legal part, the copyright part, I don’t know what will happen.”