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Not since the advent of the Gutenberg press has there been an event such as this: one which has made typesetters, editors and copywriters across the land gnash through their red pens and has forced booksellers to torch their stock simply to keep warm. Shelving systems can be heard splintering up and down the country, and each bin is overflowing with library cards and bookmarks. The eBook is here to stay, and the humble, dog-eared paperback is no more.You only have to open a paper – sorry, flip your laptop open – to see it. In the past month alone, HMV has announced Waterstones may be sold after staggeringly low profits, Amazon has reported that its new Kindles are their “fastest selling ever” and the Oxford English Dictionary, that venerable, traditional old Grandfather of the book world, has virtually ruled out the possibility of publishing the next edition in print form. US Borders, whose sales are down 11.5% on last year, is in such turmoil that it has had a hissy fit and is refusing to talk to the press. 75 years on from the first Penguins going on sale, the once indispensable travel companion, bedtime ritual and posing tool for intellectuals everywhere – the paperback – is in dire straits.....
