Book clubs and book commerce / / Corinna Norrick-Rühl.

• Superior document: Cambridge elements. Elements in publishing and book culture, 2514-8524
• VerfasserIn: Norrick-Rühl, Corinna,
• Place / Publishing House: Cambridge : : Cambridge University Press,, 2019.
• Year of Publication: 2019
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Cambridge elements. Elements in publishing and book culture,
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (100 pages) :; digital, PDF file(s).
• Notes: Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 22 Nov 2019).

In the 20th century, cumulative millions of readers received books by mail from clubs like the Book-of-the-Month Club, the Book Society or BertelsmannClub. This Element offers an introduction to book clubs as a distribution channel and cultural phenomenon, and shows that book clubs and book commerce are linked inextricably. It argues that a global perspective is necessary to understand the cultural and economic impact of book clubs in the 20th and into the 21st century. It also explores central reasons for book club membership, condensing them into four succinct categories: convenience, community, concession and, most importantly, curation. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Table of Contents

Cover -- Title page -- Copyright page -- Book Clubs and Book Commerce -- Contents -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Book Clubs: Definition and Basic Structures -- 2.1 Book Club Basics -- 2.2 Economics of Book Clubs -- 2.3 Cultural Impact of Book Clubs -- 2.4 Book Club Editions as Cultural Signifiers -- 2.5 Suggesting a Theoretical Framework -- 3 Books for the Masses - Book Clubs in the Twentieth Century -- 3.1 Nineteenth-Century Precursors -- 3.2 Book Club Beginnings in the Interwar Period -- 3.3 The Book Club Boom from the Postwar Period into the 1960s -- 3.4 Mergers and Competition (1970s to 1990s) -- 3.5 The Demise of Book Sales Clubs (from the 1990s to approximately 2010) -- 4 Chances and Challenges for Book Clubs Today -- 5 Conclusions and Outlook -- Bibliography -- Acknowledgments.