These magazines are delightful and, in their own way, consistently surprising; I love reading them, and I have loved writing for them. The books section of a newspaper plays an altogether different role. A newspaper is—or ought to be—the opposite of an algorithm, a bastion of enlightened generalism in an era of hyperspecialization and personalized marketing. Its mission is not to indulge existing tastes but to challenge them—to create a certain kind of person and, thereby, a certain kind of public. When the San Francisco Chronicle axed its stand-alone books section, in 2001, the paper’s editors were overwhelmed by an ensuing crush of vitriolic mail.

Source: Washington Post February 10, 2026 20:03 UTC