The incredible vanishing book review...
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By Kevin Berger

July 19, 2001 | "Wait, I think the stairwell is over there," said a San Francisco Chronicle editor, accompanying me to the paper's book-review department. "I've actually never been down there."

The wry editor and I were leaving the newsroom, a fluorescent hive of conversing reporters and editors. Down we descended into the basement and into a scene right out of "Norma Rae." We stood in a windowless lunchroom, a grim assembly of colored-plastic tables and vending machines. The few folks eating their sandwiches here were clearly not the Chronicle's executive staff. A sign on a far wall said "Book Review," followed by an arrow.

We headed down a dimly lit hallway, past a janitor's office, a storage space with extension cords on the floor and an abandoned copy-machine room, and finally arrived at a stockroom. Inside, pressboard shelves sagged with books. The floor was piled with padded envelopes stuffed with a lot more.


Well, you get the point. This lengthy article was about book reviews being a disappearing breed and was published in Salon.com back on July 23, 2001. Are books reviews becoming a vanishing breed?

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