I’m a little late to the game on this documentary, which came out in 2013, but I’m glad that I didn’t miss it entirely. Out of Print focuses on the future of knowledge and ideas, mainly with respect to books and the internet as methods for transferring and preserving those things.   

I have a two-fold interest in these subjects. First, as a writer, I want a better understanding of how my work will be shared and, hopefully, purchased. I started in book publishing twenty years ago, when e-books were new and Amazon only sold books, and I’ve seen tremendous changes in this business. Second, as a teacher, it was compelling to watch the snippets with teenagers, who were explaining how they go straight to the internet for anything. The question we all ask is: how do we reach this generation, which expects reading be a quickie thing and which prefers instant results to searching? 

This documentary address both, albeit in fifty-five minutes all total, so it’s more of an overview than a deep dive. However, I immediately considered showing it in my Creative Writing classes, because of that.