Can Book Trailers Sell Books?

A book is for quiet time. A book stimulates the imagination to create its own visuals. Wouldn’tthat imaginative process be spoiledifyou watched a book trailer? Have we come to a point where we need a visual aid to sell a book? What does that say about books? Is thebook as a medium is cheapened by video, as itimpliesthe book alone is inadequate? These questions were raised in “The Awkward Art of Book Trailers”in The New Yorker a few years back.

Yet, ifvisuals cheapen a book, why do authors and...