Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Failed Publishing Ventures: "Does not a great business make"

“The process of the specialization of ‘literature’ to ‘creative’ or ‘imaginative’ works…is in part a major affirmative response, in the name of an essentially general human ‘creativity’, to the socially repressive and intellectually mechanical forms of a new social order: that of capitalism and especially industrial capitalism.”
- Raymond Williams, Marxism and Literature

"It's a wonderful iconic brand. But we have struggled for years with advertiser commitment and this year was not a particularly good one. We believe future prospects are not much greater, so we can't sustain the business."
- Charles H. Townsend, president and CEO of Condé Nast

And so, a Haiku/Photo mash-up eulogy:

Neons strike contrast

With a sterile surrounding,

A messy coda