reviews.indd 554 College & Research Libraries November 2005 communication of theory and research findings would have made Crowley’s book more useful. There also appears to be a need for more discussion of research related to practitioners’ apprehension about being consumers and producers of research, particularly as described by R. R. Powell, L. M. Baker, and J. J. Mika in their article, “Library and Informa- tion Science Practitioners and Research” (Library & Information Science Research, 2002). Such a shift in emphasis would likely require editing of other portions of the manuscript. The discussion of the issues is present- ed within the context of academic pro- grams in library and information science (LIS), as well as those of other disciplines. However, the presentation would have been enhanced if Crowley had integrated the LIS examples with those from busi- ness schools and other disciplines in order to create greater clarity in the conclusions and for succinctness. He does provide an interesting discussion and analysis of the evolution of pragmatism, empiricism, modernism, postmodernism, and critical theory. This timely consideration of the context that surrounds theory develop- ment is most useful. The author spends a significant amount of time addressing the relevance of religion to theory development, re- search, and analysis. However, it seems that the impact of religion relates more directly to the formation of ethical prin- ciples that define professions and less so to the theories that define the work of the professions. Major and minor areas of focus, such as the definition of theory in this con- text and recent changes in professional schools reflecting changes in the overall academic environment, are presented in segmented discussions in various chapters. In the case of the concept of theory, there might be an advantage to beginning the first chapter with the working definition, which only appears in part three of that chapter. Also, there are examples of combining the concepts of theory and research, which, in fact, are not always inextricably linked, and which should have had separate definitions early on in the book. It should be noted that the work does include an “extended glossary,” which provides defi nitions of general, theoretical, and philosophical terms, as well as specialized terminology used by the author. There are distinctions between theory and representations of theory, but distinctions between “theories, hypotheses, models, slogans, aphorisms, and other mental constructions” are not delineated. The primary audience for this publica- tion is likely to be LIS teaching faculty and students in doctoral seminars in theory development and university teaching. It may serve as a supplemental text for courses in research methods and be of interest to some practitioners. The two major strengths of Spanning the Theory-Practice Divide in Library & Information Science are that (1) the work addresses an important area of discon- nect in the discipline and the profession and (2) the discussion is supported by the presentation of broader philosophi- cal and theoretical principles that have defined a range of disciplines. In addi- tion, Crowley’s inclusion of examples and analogies from his professional life and the analysis of issues from a variety of disciplines provides for an interesting and timely publication.—Mark Winston, Rutgers University. Kong, Shuyu. Consuming Literature: Best Sellers and the Commercialization of Literary Production in Contemporary China. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford Univ. Pr., 2005. 241p. alk. paper, cloth $55 (ISBN 0804749396); paper $21.95 (ISBN 080474940X). LC 2004-17604. Most librarians and lovers of the written word might be distressed by the subtitle of this new survey of literary publishing in late twentieth and early twenty-first- century China. The author herself seems conflicted about what she calls the “mar- ketization” of literature: although she Book Reviews 555 admits that the dismantling of much of the Communist government’s publish- ing apparatus has had the happy effect of freeing authors from the obligation to write only that which is utilitarian and political, she also laments transformation of literature (broadly construed) into a commodity. Those of us who work in publishing, libraries, and academe know that there is no such thing as pure, un- adulterated literary production: the pub- lication of a book (at least in the Western world) always involves a delicate dance between the muse and the marketplace. This book is an interesting description into a developing Chinese publishing industry that is coming to terms with a nascent capitalism. Kong (Chinese literature, University of Alberta) traces this transformation of literary production to the 1980s, when na- tional economic reforms resulted in lower subsidies to the Writers Association, a sort of union that mediated between authors and the party bureaucracy. Publication and official participation in China’s cul- tural life was impossible unless one was a member. The decline in state subsidies to authors, as well as the rise of the mass media, led authors to become, in Kong’s words, “cultural entrepreneurs.” At the same time, Kong faults the rise of popular literature (some of it pirated) as a factor in the decline of the production of “seri- ous literature.” Western authors such as Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle (throwbacks to another era), as well as Japanese and Hong Kong martial arts tales, romances, and pulp fiction flooded the marketplace. Kong reports on the fas- cinating story of the Xue Mili series, exotic adventure stories supposedly writt en by a woman and featuring drugs, sex, and beautiful women. The series, begun in 1987, sold in the millions, that is, until it was revealed that the books were actually written to order by a group of male au- thors, in a kind of assembly-line process (akin to the workings of the Stratemeyer syndicate). The writers were castigated as “literary prostitutes,” and a campaign against pornography and “unhealthy” publications followed. Kong laments that these writers had been forced into “sell- ing out for profit” in order to survive as writers. The products of writing became a commodity, not as Kong puts it, “a public mission.” For those unfamiliar with book pro- duction outside the United States and Statement of ownership, management, and circulation College & Research Libraries, ISSN 0010-0870, is published bimonthly by the Association of College and Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association, 50 E. Hu- ron St., Chicago, IL 60611-2795 (the owner). The editor is Willliam Gray Pott er, University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, GA 30602-1641, and the managing editor is Dawn Mueller, ACRL, 50 East Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611. Annual subscription price, $65.00. Printed in U.S.A. with second-class postage paid at Chicago, Illinois. As a nonprofi t organization authorized to mail at special rates (DMM Section 424.12 only), the purpose, function, and nonprofit status of this organization and the exempt status for federal income tax purposes have not changed during the preceding twelve months. Extent and nature of circulation (Average figures denote the average number of copies printed each issue during the preceding twelve months; actual figures denote actual number of copies of single issue published nearest filing date: September 2005 issue.) 15a. Total number of copies (Net press run): average 14,339; actual 14,608. 15b(1) Paid/Requested Outside County: average 13,701; actual 14,125. 15c. Total Paid and/or Requested Circulation: average 13,701; actual 14,125. 15d(1). Free distribution by Mail Outside-County: average 15; actual 15. 15f. Total free dis- tribution: average 15; actual 15. 15g. Total Distribution: average 13,716; actual 14,140. 15h. Copies not Distributed: average 623; actual 468. 15i. Total: average 14,339; actual 14,608. 15j. Percent Paid and/or Requested Circulation: average 99%; actual 99%. 556 College & Research Libraries Western Europe, Kong’s description of the “second-channel” bookstores is fas- cinating. The old government bookstore system strictly controlled publication; profits went to the State, and not to au- thors, and the main editorial thrust of government-sponsored publication was socialist education. Second-channel stores (so called because they supplement the “main channel” of state-sponsored pub- lishing) are technically illegal in China and carry unoffi cially published books. Kong points out that second-channel pub- lishing has outgrown its image of seedy street bookstalls and private bookstores (though these still exist) and now feed a large, educated readers’ market. Given the size of China’s population, one should not be astonished at some of the sales figures that Kong tosses out, but this reader was astounded: 40,000 copies of translations of Proust sold within three years; 150,000 copies of Joyce’s Ulysses (in two compet- ing translations); 600,000 copies of The Bridges of Madison County. Chinese-lan- guage titles are even more popular; novels about the lives of young urban Chinese and “privacy literature” (autobiographi- cal fictions that focus on women’s private lives, especially their sexual lives) have found huge audiences. An example of this latt er genre, Shanghai Babe, by Wei Hui, sold 110,000 copies in half a year. Kong seems uncertain of what to make of this phenomenon: she acknowledges that sec- ond-channel publishing has unleashed a wave of creativity among Chinese authors and improved production standards, but she is a bit put out that so many publish- ers cater to readers’ “baser instincts.” One has the sense that the author has a Romantic view of the writer as someone called to ennoble the reader’s life; Kong does not seem to have fallen prey to the rather cynical Western view that writing and publishing is just another industry. It is difficult to imagine a U.S. population so thirsty for books that publishers would dare to advertise Harry Potter books on- screen in movie houses and then sell them in the lobby after the show. Yet, such is the November 2005 case in China, where, at least according to Kong’s account, books still seem to be an important part of the mass media. Kong’s book also deals with the con- tinuing problem of piracy in China, the challenges faced by literary journals that are no longer supported by the govern- ment, the growth of online bookstores, and the increasing availability of the media to ordinary people. Although not an essential purchase for most libraries, it is useful for its discussion of how mod- ernization has affected the book-buying public in China and certainly fills a gap in what has, until now, been a heavily Western approach to the study of books and reading.—Cecile M. Jagodzinski, Indi- ana University. Montgomery, Jack, and Eleanor I. Cook. Conflict Management for Libraries: Strate- gies for a Positive, Productive Workplace. Chicago: ALA, 2005. 207p. $42 (ISBN: 083890890X). LC 2004-30722. You might be surprised to hear that work- ing in a library is like working in the post office, but that’s the case according to Jack G. Montgomery and Eleanor I. Cook in Conflict Management for Libraries. They have several reasons for advancing this claim: (1) the work is repetitive and detail oriented, (2) layers of bureaucracy dis- tance employees at many levels from deci- sion making leading to profound feelings of helplessness, (3) library job skills are often not transferable to the nonlibrary business world, and (4) the “jobs for life” syndrome (as in all civil service or civil service–type environments) changes how managers deal with, and attempt to solve, serious HR matters. The logical conclu- sion that one might draw from this—that library staff might “go postal”—is one of the reasons for the existence of a study of workplace conflict aimed specifically at the library market. This book is based on a survey distrib- uted during the summer of 2000 to fifteen library electronic discussion lists. Over 500 individuals made responses, 455 of which were complete enough to be used