THE noise inside the subway train did not bother him at all. His attention remained fixed on his book.
No more than 12 years old, he was reading from one of the “Artemis Fowl” series of children’s book about a young, ingenious criminal mastermind. The series has become an international bestseller.
There is something gratifying in seeing a young boy so engrossed in his reading. The bespectacled chap was probably a bookworm.
On another occasion, a Hispanic boy was also completely absorbed in his science fiction tale while riding on the train with his mother.
It appears that American society is much more into reading than Malaysians.
One indicator is the subway train where commuters do not just pore into magazines and newspapers but also books. Sometimes they read while standing inside a crowded train.
Then, there is the ubiquitous Barnes & Noble bookstore. It is a cosy place where people would not mind you reading there for hours.
“And if you order a book from them before 11am, they can deliver it to you on the same day. That’s what I like about this bookstore,” said H. de Pinho, an academic from South Africa.
Such a service was unavailable in her home country, she said.
Apparently, Barnes & Noble has at least one million titles for immediate delivery.
There is also the Strand Book Store, which boasts of 18 miles of books and sells its titles at about 20% lower than the list price. For instance, Breakfast At Tiffany’s is sold at US$9.71 instead of the list price of US$12.95.
Barnes & Noble also has all sorts of benefits and discounts for its members.
Book reviews appear almost daily in every other newspaper here. The New York Times, in fact, publishes a 30-odd page-pullout every Sunday just on book reviews.
Print advertisements of a new title frequently take up a whole page in the broadsheet New York Times.
For example, A Spot of Bother, the new novel by Mark Haddon (author of The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-time) was promoted in a full-page advertisement. So was Mitch Albom’s For One More Day, which came with the enticing question: “What would you do for one more day with the person you loved the most?”
Ann Caggiano, a marketing executive, cautioned, however, that such heavy publicity was possible because of the huge financial machine.
The intense promotion was probably a factor in fuelling the reading public, she said.
“My impression is that people who live in bigger cities tend to read more. There is the ability to receive more information at all times, besides a bigger need to expand their horizon,” she said.
Caggiano was among those who attended a book discussion by Amy Tan two weeks ago at a Barnes & Noble bookstore. The author was promoting her latest book, Saving Fish From Drowning.
Those who attended swamped her with questions: How was she inspired to write the characters? Why such a title?
Earlier, Tan told her audience that she would revise her copy about 100 times and that what she wrote in the beginning would become very different at the end of the day.
“It is a painful process,” she said.
Such book readings and discussions are so common here that you can find one almost every other day.
Then there is the impressive New York public library, which has 85 branches in Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island. The borrowed item can be returned to any of the branches in these boroughs. Membership is free.
These libraries offer a wide range of materials, from books to videos and so forth. Magazines are not restricted to serious titles only. You can find anything from Time magazine to Cosmopolitan.
Today, one New York park will host an event billed as the “Great Read in the Park”, where established writers and budding authors meet the public and conduct panel discussions and book signings. There’s even a children’s stage.
For New Yorkers, it is indeed the 3Rs – read, read and read.
(Sunday October 15, 2006)
