Sales of general-interest books are thriving, in sharp contrast to recent downturns in other communications and media businesses, including Hollywood, where movie attendance is in its third straight year of decline; recorded music, in which sales have fallen for four of the last five years; and network television, which has steadily lost viewers.

In fact, for all the talk about the death of "old media" and the ascendancy of the new, digitally fueled media that rule the airwaves and cyberspace, Americans still spend more buying books than they do going to movies or buying recorded music, video games or DVD's.

This may be true, but what the author fails to mention is that the average American -- remember her? From the Presidential campaign? -- has a lot more unread books than unwatched movies, unheard albums, or unplayed games.

Sales aren't everything; those numbers can disappear on scarcely more than a quarter's notice. What really matters is mindshare. And demographics. And if you look at these same sales numbers according to age group, I suspect the glee will fade from the faces of booksellers.