Bloggers, Book Critics Find Common Ground

By Neal 

Unfortunately, a vicious head cold kept me from getting to the National Book Critics Circle panel at Housing Works Wednesday night, where John Freeman brought Laurie Muchnick and Frank Wilson, the book editors of Newsday and the Philadelphia Inquirer, together with bookbloggers Maud Newton and Lizzie Skurnick to hash out the reviewer-blogger conflict. (Actually, there was a significant amount of overlap, as both Newton and Skurnick have written for newspapers, including the NYTBR, and Wilson’s got his own blog.) Fortunately, Jane Ciabattari was taking notes for the NBCC Critical Mass blog, and compiled a selection of quotes from the evening. Freeman also offers an insider’s perspective on the event, along with mentioning all the literati that came to watch.