This Is Not the End of the Book: Two Great Men Discuss Our Digital Future

The table of contents for this book-length conversation between Carri%C3%A8re and Eco, both distinguished writers and collectors of antiquarian books, presents (to an even greater degree than most tables of contents do) a microcosmic view of what's to come: "The book will never die"; "There is nothing more ephemeral than long-term media formats"; "Do we need to know the name of every soldier at the Battle of Waterloo?". The authors range in discussion from why they find stupidity appealing to the niceties of dating antiquarian books. The dialogue is almost oppressively witty and warm but expect few new insights about the crisis of publishing or our digital future as readers. Eco and Carri%C3%A8re ramble with much charm but seem to have been laxly edited. The conversation is too aware of itself as the product of "great men" and blind to some of its own fetishistic cant about the "sacredness of the book." (Oct.)%C2%A0 %C2%A0