I'm starting (finally) to accept the slow death of traditional media. Jeezus, it's taken me long enough to process it. As a journalist, I've watched seemingly endless numbers of my friends kicked onto the street or into strange, new media while newspapers and magazines fold, downsize, or otherwise embarrass themselves with clumsy online attempts. I read ninety percent--Hell, I admit it, ninety-nine--percent of my news online. As obvious as the decline of newspapers has been and as complicit as I've been in it, I guess my old-school journalism degree kept me in denial.

OK. I get it. Newspapers are dead. Next.

But the novel? Haven't we been told for thirty years that people don't read for pleasure anymore? And the first few salvos into electronica--online books, the Kindle, etc.--have been pretty stupid. I'm not a visionary. I'm waiting for someone to show me the future of the novel.

So I was intrigued when I ran into a website, The Fiction Circus, attempting to bridge the two worlds of electronic communication and literature. (and, I think, music?). Seems like some young NY lit types are pushing into brave new territory. Or experimenting with literature like it was performance art. Or wasting time they should be using finishing their MFAs. I can't say, because I can't really make heads or tails of what the site is really about. Can fiction be gathered, guerrilla-style, online and given an audience? I'll let you know when I figure out what the hell The Fiction Circus is.