You Be Ulin
The LAT writes up its new book editor David Ulin:
[Previous editor Steve] Wasserman had been credited with bringing respect, and a number of top-name critics, to Book Review’s pages during his nine-year tenure. But some readers inside and outside the paper complained that Book Review could be arcane or fixated on topics that appealed to a narrow readership.
One Sunday section, for instance, focused solely on writing related to the Spanish Civil War.
Ulin said Wednesday that he plans to focus more on fiction than Book Review has in the recent past and will build “on the foundation that is already there to open it up and make it as energetic and engaged as possible.”
“I would like to have a Book Review that is fairly fluid and responsive to the culture, a review that treats books seriously but has fun treating them seriously, if that makes any sense,” Ulin said.
Sounds great, seriously. And it’s a smart move to hire someone who’s actually lived here for a while. Note to Ulin: Why not bring back that old person-on-the-street ‘What Angelenos Are Reading’ feature that disappeared several years ago? That was always the first thing in the paper I read on Sundays. (Also, I was in it once.) But maybe that’s just me.
