"What happens if we separate the idea of "the book" from the experience it has traditionally provided? Lynn Coady challenges book lovers addicted to the physical book to confront their darkest fears about the digital world and the future of reading. Is the all-pervasive Internet turning readers into web-surfing automatons and books themselves into museum pieces? The bogeyman of technological change has haunted humans ever since Plato warned about the dangers of the written word, and every generation is convinced its youth will bring about the end of civilization. In Who Needs Books?, Coady suggests that, even though digital advances have long been associated with the erosion of literacy, recent technologies have not debased our culture as much as they have simply changed the way we read."-- Provided by publisher
Analysis
Canadian Literature/Essay
LITERARY CRITICISM / Canadian
SOCIAL SCIENCE / Popular Culture
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references
Notes
Text chiefly in English. Includes a foreword presented in both English and French
Issuing Body
Co-published by Canadian Literature Centre / Centre de littérature canadienne
