Andrew Sullivan points us to this chart depicting that the overwhelming majority of the books reviewed by the New York Times are by white authors.
It's yet another reminder of the deep divide in this country on race, here extended to the book reviewing community (given that the NYT is one of the most respected book review outlets in the States). I myself also typically read only white authors; when I step away from my race, it's typically through the international community, like with Hari Kunzru and Haruki Murakami. Different viewpoints lead to new and more interesting thinking, so this tendency is alarming and something to be aware of when picking out new books in the future.
How about you? Do you typically stick to your race when reading (or writing about books)?
interesting.
ReplyDeletei wonder what percentage of books published in 2011 were by white authors. i wonder what percentage of times readers are white. i wonder what their book selection process is.
i wonder if this is an example of an issue at the times, or an example of the wider issue related to the level of recognition non-white authors get in the literary marketplace.