Pageantry and Politics at Publishing's Big Event: The 2004 Frankfurt Book Fair

Garrett, Jeffrey, American Libraries

Publishers, prizes, press conferences. Pageantry, politics, posturing. Frankfurt simply has it all. For five days every fall, this metropolis on Germany's Main River is the center of the book world. This year, 6,691 publishers from all over the globe paid top dollar to have their own booths October 6-10, while 79 countries had collective exhibits; in all, 110 countries were represented. The fair's press office estimates that 350,000 books were on display, no fewer than 100,000 of them new releases.

The Frankfurt Book Fair is so vast that it has its own train station, subway station, post office, barbershop, and six gourmet restaurants. Shuttle buses and an airport-style "via mobile" ferry 270,000 visitors back and forth between 10 huge exhibit halls, each two, three, or four stories high. Fred Bohm, director of the Michigan State University Press, …

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Publication information: Article title: Pageantry and Politics at Publishing's Big Event: The 2004 Frankfurt Book Fair. Contributors: Garrett, Jeffrey - Author. Magazine title: American Libraries. Volume: 35. Issue: 11 Publication date: December 2004. Page number: 34+. © 1984 American Library Association. COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group.

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