Yesterday’s anonymous letter from a school teacher decrying our illiterate future, and my response that the publishing industry could only be expected to do so much in dealing with what sounded like a need for educational reform, prompted this response from another unnamed GalleyCat reader:
“Publishers can and do wield a big influence with respect to literacy. It’s no longer a gentleman’s industry and the half-educated people I work with in publishing think pornographic anime is ‘cool’ and the graphic novels are as ‘valid’ as literature. None of these people are aware of the classics—to them ‘classic’ means Bret Easton Ellis. They watch the film versions too. So mag publishers give less room for fiction, books are dumbed down, and each year we get further away from the standard of intelligence we once had.”
Oh, God, where to begin? Frankly, I’m just going to invite you “half-educated” publishing grunts to press the pause button on the pornographic anime adaptation of Glamorama, put down your graphic novels, and give this old fogey a piece of your mind.