Shaken & Stirred: Bad News Blues

September 01, 2006

Bad News Blues

Word of the latest casualties in the Village Voice evisceration is traveling this morning, and it appears that book review editor Ed Park is no longer there. A shame, that. Park's reviews were always thoughtful and on target and his impeccable taste meant good books from all over the place got covered. The NYT has this:

Ed Park, a senior editor in charge of the books section who said he learned by telephone on Wednesday that he was being let go, said he was “shocked and insulted” by the firings. But, he said, “I could see that this was coming,” in part because of talk of centralized arts coverage. He added that Village Voice management had an “attitude of disdain for what I thought were the strong points of The Voice. It was a swaggering attitude that their chain of papers were so good and The Voice was an embarrassment and we have to get up to their level somehow.”

Here's hoping Park lands somewhere prominent quickly and that the people who made this decision experience stabbing pains all day. And Jenny Davidson says he's working on a brilliant novel, which is a bit of good news in with this very bad stuff (see link below).

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