So I see that Gawker has expanded its publication schedule to include the weekend now, including a look at the New York Times Book Review. While I don't exactly disagree with any of the weekend editors' takes, I still miss the snappy patter "Intern Alexis" used to bring to her weekly "Reading About Reading" items. On the other hand, I was very impressed to see the new crew pick up the story on intellectuals rebelling against the NYTBR and NYRB, which just goes to show that it's not only bookbloggers who get their knickers in a twist over the Reviews, although the academics tend to show more decorum when they're complaining.

"The time has come for an entrepreneur or entrepreneurs to get together with fair and distinguished editors to create a new weekly book review," says historian Jeffrey Herf, "one that will do justice to excellent American scholarship that remains a well kept secret to the vast number of potential readers in this country and around the world." You can tell he's a history professor, because an economist would know that entrepreneurs require a profit motive before acting! Besides, we've already got Arts & Letters Daily collating the best of what's already available online in this vein...and, as Herf acknowledges, the Times Literary Supplement is pretty much the sort of magazine he's looking for, except it's in England. (Maybe TLS should consider expanding its American outreach?) Seriously, though, Herf and his respondents raise a lot of interesting points which bear thoughtful consideration.

(By the way, before you get ready to send me a corrective email, I confess: I know Alexis Swerdloff is still doing the "Look Book" for Gawker every week, even though she's being kept quite busy as the managing editor of the Paper website. But I liked the headline too much to pass it up, especially since it nearly fit the rhythm of the original lyric.)