TY - BOOK AU - Norrick-Rühl,Corinna TI - Book clubs and book commerce T2 - Cambridge elements. Elements in publishing and book culture, 2514-8524 SN - 9781108597258 (ebook) AV - Z549 .N67 2019 U1 - 016.80883872 23 PY - 2019/// CY - Cambridge PB - Cambridge University Press KW - Book clubs (Bookselling) KW - History N1 - Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 22 Nov 2019); Open Access title N2 - In the 20th century, cumulative millions of readers received books by mail from clubs like the Book-of-the-Month Club, the Book Society or BertelsmannClub. This Element offers an introduction to book clubs as a distribution channel and cultural phenomenon, and shows that book clubs and book commerce are linked inextricably. It argues that a global perspective is necessary to understand the cultural and economic impact of book clubs in the 20th and into the 21st century. It also explores central reasons for book club membership, condensing them into four succinct categories: convenience, community, concession and, most importantly, curation. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core UR - https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108597258 ER -