Inside the Coachella of books
A dispatch from the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books
Can the book-publishing industry survive shrinking attention spans, endless streaming options, the AI onslaught, and the prophesied disappearance of the American reader?
I braved cross-country air travel last weekend in the hope that the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books would offer some answers—or at least bring me face to face with multitudes of fellow book nerds who also greet news of, say, a new Ann Patchett or Colson Whitehead novel with the passion of a Swiftie. And along the way, I got to meet Stacey Abrams and read her a special message Oprah sent me to read to her.
Come with me.