By Tiana Tew
SLIS Network, Alumni Magazine
Spring 2003
"It is fun to pontificate in print," writes Blaise Cronin in the preface to his new book, Pulp Friction (Scarecrow Press, 2003, 140 pages). Pen in hand and tongue in cheek, Cronin must have had a jolly time composing and compiling his latest manuscript. Over the course of nearly two decades, Cronin has perfected the art of preaching with pith and panache in 800 words or less. Pulp Friction is a "bully pulpit" for Libraryland's most eloquent critic, with a collection of articles, letters, papers, and personal commentary.
Many of the selections were originally published in Library Journal's "Dean's List," but Cronin also includes previously unpublished commentary, rebuttals, and postscripts. His range is comprehensive, and, true to form, Cronin considers no topic too sacred. He scrutinizes the world of North American librarianship, highlighting its excesses and inconsistencies, and takes on feminist scholarship. From pornography and censorship to the idiocies of accreditation, Pulp Friction is an engaging tour of Libraryland.
Provocative, approaching adversarial, Cronin's reflections, accusations, and tirades will force readers to examine their own tendencies toward "tergiversation" and "pietistic clucking." Just be sure to have salt in one hand, and a dictionary in the other.
Cronin's Book Collection
Author or editor of over 20...
The Web of Knowledge: A Festschrift in Honor of Eugene Garfield, Cronin, B. and Atkins, H.B. (2000)
Elements Of Information Management, Cronin, B. and Davenport, E. (1991)
Annual Review of Information Science and Technology, ed. Cronin, B. (2003)
Post-professionalism: Transforming the Information Heartland, Cronin, B. and Davenport, E. (1988)
Marketing of Library and Information Services 2, ed. Cronin, B. (1992)
See Related SLIS News stories:
Shaping SLIS: Outgoing Dean Blaise Cronin Looks Back
Indiana University SLIS Dean Announces Resignation
Cronin's Colleagues Speak Out
Cronin's Honors
Duck l'Orangerie
Posted June 26, 2003