As I sagely opined in an earlier post in this thread, [condensed], "sod Franzen and the pretensions he's cleverly trying to ride into the public view upon!."
Look, I LOVE PAPER! I have more than a thousand hardbound books in my attic that I've collected over 4-5 decades. I've never been able to also
afford to build bookcases for them, so that my home can also be a community resource centre. . . but apparently lovely, idealistic dreams are meant to be stillborn in this cruel universe.
Within recent years my "dream" has become WAY more realistic due to digital tech and ebook proliferation.
I'll sit for an hour or more with a like-minded friend and rhapsodise about the feel, the smell, and the taste of a fine old hardbound. . .
BUT I am much more concerned with getting the full range of nourishment to everyone who is hungry for knowledge --than I am concerned with playing "refined old gourmand"!
VIVA EBOOKS!