In mid-January the National Endowment for the Arts (http://www.nea.gov/) released a report — "Reading on the Rise" — (http://www.nea.gov/news/news09/ReadingonRise.html) containing the encouraging news that, for the first time since NEA began studying our reading habits back in 1982, the percentage of American adults who in 2008 read any work of literature (novels, short stories, poetry, or plays) for any reason other than for work or school actually rose. The increase occurred among men, women, Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics, with the biggest gains coming from young adults between the ages of 18 and 24.
The causes of the reversal in the decades-long downward trend probably are many tightly woven threads. In the preface to the report, Dana Gioia, Chairman of the NEA, suggests that many national, statewide, and community-based efforts, ranging from NEA's own Big Read initiative (http://www.neabigread.org/) on down, probably had a positive influence. All the small book discussion groups around the country undoubtedly helped rekindle adult interest in reading and literature as well.
Computers, computer networks, and video games are often suggested as contributing causes of the decline in reading in general and in literary reading in particular that NEA has been documenting. Upon first consideration, then, it would seem that computers and computer networks on the one hand, and books and book discussion groups on the other, are antipathetic, although I can imagine some readers bringing their Kindle portable electronic reading devices (http://www.amazon.com/Amazon-com-kindle/dp/B000FI73MA) to an in-person discussion group.
Computers and computer networks actually can broaden and strengthen participation in book discussion groups. Truth to tell, I haven't attended an in-person book discussion in years, but I either lead or participate in several book discussions each month. I do it all from the comfort of my own home. These newfangled book discussions are held either online, using webconferencing software such as OPAL (http://www.opal-online.org), or "in-world" — that is, in a three-dimensional virtual world, such as Second Life (http://secondlife.com/). All three types of venues enable real-time group discussions about books. Book discussion groups have branched out from the traditional in-person gatherings of friends, who usually get together once a month to discuss a novel or nonfiction work, partake of refreshments, and enjoy each other's company.
Webconferencing software enables participants to use their Internet-connected computers to enter an online room where they can speak with each other (using voice-over-IP technology), text chat across the entire group or individual-to-individual, view PowerPoint slides, and co-browse the web, if it is appropriate to the book being discussed. Most OPAL online book discussions are open to anyone worldwide with an Internet-connected computer and an interest in the book being discussed. In reality, usually fewer than 20 people attend these live online book discussions. It's strictly BYOR (bring your own refreshments), which could be a drawback or a boon, depending on your culinary skills and preferences.
Unlike in-person book discussions, where most or all of the attendees at least know each other, with live online book discussions, often the people who gather are complete strangers. They may live in different cities, countries, or continents. You never know who is going to show up. One time, during a book discussion of the thriller Rusty Nail by J.A. Konrath, the author himself dropped in unannounced to the online book discussion. Fortunately, the group that had gathered generally liked the book. While one common characteristic of all three types of book discussions (in-person, online, and in-world) is that they are live, one big advantage of online book discussions is that they are easy to record, archive, and even podcast. The recorded book discussions in the OPAL Archive (http://www.opal-online.org/archivebooks.htm) often receive upwards of ten times the use within a few months, compared to the number of people who attended the live online discussion. The big drawback of online book discussions is that the sense of gathering together in one place is a bit ethereal and attenuated.
Book discussions in three-dimensional virtual worlds diminish this drawback, because the avatars (i.e., the "embodied" personas that represent real people in the virtual world) actually gather in something like a real space. For example, for the monthly mystery novel discussion group that I co-lead with Mack Lundy, called "Waiting for the Other Gumshoe to Drop," we usually meet at the gazebo near Mystery Manor on Info Island in Second Life (http://slurl.com/secondlife/Info%20Island/238/190/33/). Our avatars sit on cushions, and we even serve virtual martinis. No need for designated drivers! In spring 2009 I'll be involved in a monthly book discussion group featuring Ray Bradbury's books that will be held on Bradburyville in Second Life. Loren Logsdon, a Bradbury scholar, will be the featured guest at these discussions. If you cannot attend in Second Life, you may listen to these discussions via the Internet radio station, Radio Riel (http://radioriel.blogspot.com/).
If in-person, online, and in-world book discussion groups already exist, what is the next frontier for book discussions? Two possibilities come to mind. First, while all three types of book discussions are live, in another sense they are delayed. A typical book discussion assumes that you have read (or at least begun reading) the featured book before the book discussion. An innovative new web-based service called Book Glutton (http://www.bookglutton.com/) is conflating the reading with the discussing. You can discuss a book as you read it. The full texts of many books in the public domain are freely available on the website, and authors are encouraged to upload their works to the site. The discussion group can be predefined (e.g., class, kith, or kin) or just anyone worldwide who happens to be reading the same book at the same time you are.
Another possible frontier is experiential book discussions. For example, on Bradburyville Island in Second Life there is a walk-through version of Fahrenheit 451. A group of avatars could actually become characters in this 3D rendition of the key places and scenes in the novel, then discuss their thoughts, feelings, and experiences. Refreshments, of course, are optional.
TOM PETERS is the founder, CEO, and Grand Poobah of TAP Information Services (http://www.tapinformation.com), which helps organizations innovate. He is the coordinator of OPAL (http://www.opal-online.org) and of Unabridged (http://www.unabridged.info), a downloadable digital audio book service for blind and low-vision readers.