WHILE TAKING a break from working on Q&Q’s 2016 Year in Review package (beginning on page 18), I found myself chuckling over a recent article on New York magazine’s culture website, Vulture, pondering the continued fascination with 1980s popular culture. The feature kicks off with three different headlines from The New York Times, run over the course of two decades, demonstrating the longevity of this fascination (and the perennial nature of cultural trend pieces).
The story also got me thinking about that old adage of history repeating itself, and wondering how that plays out in the books industry. Have things really changed since the days of shoulder pads? So I pulled out several volumes from the Q&Q archives, to see how the industry has evolved, and how this year stacked up against previous decades.