The San Francisco Chronicle has reversed its decisions made this spring to shorten its book review section and to fold it into the newspaper (News, June 4). It has lengthened the section and began publishing it as a stand-alone again on October 7.
Unlike the book review's former incarnation, this one will take the form of a broadsheet. Its six pages will roughly translate into the 12 tabloid pages the section contained before it was absorbed into the paper.
Book review editor Oscar Villalon said the decision had little to do with economics and a lot to do with readers. "Enough people complained that they [newspaper executives] felt they had to change it," he said. Indeed, it's hard to imagine new economic incentive. So far, it's the only book review section to recant its recent promise for austerity.
