Thomas Riggs and Company

Ebooks and the Loss of Identity

Just when I thought I already had a full catalog of woes to consider, I had the pleasure of reading James Wolcott’s essay “What’s a Culture Snob to Do” in Vanity Fair. In considering the death of the physical book, I usually think about such mundane issues as the survival of publishing or the pleasure of print on paper. But Wolcott gives me something more existential to fear: the loss of personal artifacts essential to my identity. He writes,

Books not only furnish a room, to paraphrase the title of an Anthony Powell novel, but also accessorize our outfits. They help brand our identities. At the rate technology is progressing, however, we may eventually be traipsing around culturally nude in an urban rain forest, androids seamlessly integrated with our devices.

He also imagines degraded moments of nostalgia.

Reading will forfeit the tactile dimension where memories insinuate themselves, reminding us of where and when D. H. Lawrence entered our lives that meaningful summer. “Darling, remember when we downloaded Sons and Lovers in Napa Valley?” doesn’t have quite the same ring to it.

Wolcott seems concerned that, by using an e-reader, we won’t be able to show strangers on a train or in a coffee shop that we’re reading Nietzsche and not Danielle Steel. Or vice versa.

But not everyone wants to use books for creating an identity. Or at least not the books they’re actually reading. Some people prefer the anonymity of the Kindle. And for those wanting to hide certain embarrassing titles from people snooping on their Kindle, here’s a tip from CNET.

Thomas Riggs
Thomas Riggs & Company
Missoula, Montana

From Thomas Riggs & Co. Blog: www.thomasriggs.net/blog

Mission Statement

Thomas Riggs & Co., founded in 1995, is a book developer and literary publisher based in Missoula, Montana. We focus on publishing projects in the humanities, such as literary criticism, biographies of writers, and study guides of literary works.

As a book developer, we have collaborated with such publishers as Gale (Cengage Learning) and Chadwyck-Healey (ProQuest) to create widely distributed academic and reference works. Our first book, published with St. James Press in 1995, was Contemporary Poets, a collection of essays on writers throughout the world. As a publisher, we began planning a new line of books, both prose and poetry, in 2009.

Although based in Missoula, Montana, Thomas Riggs & Co. now conducts its day-to-day work though a virtual office on the Internet. Our employees and network of editors, researchers, and writers live throughout North America and Europe. By working in a virtual office, we are better able to pursue our business and ethical goals.

• To create books and other publishing products of exceptional quality.
• To hire the most talented people available for our staff regardless of location—and regardless of age, sex, ethnicity, disability, religion, or sexual orientation—and to provide our staff with the best means of organization and collaboration.
• To work within emerging technology that is driving the future of publishing.
• To create the best possible working conditions for our employees and contractors.
• To minimize our environmental impact by reducing the need for paper, additional structures, commuting, and travel.

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