The Work of Selecting the Books and Movies of the Year

In an age of inattention, it’s hard to imagine that most people are seriously reading and watching enough media besides TikTok clips to competently select the "best" of it

The annual ritual of crowning “Book of the Year,” “Movie of the Year,” and similar accolades often unfolds with the pomp and circumstance of an ancient coronation, albeit one rendered “lighter than air” by the excessive application of insipid modern marketing methods. The very notion of selecting a definitive “best” from the Golden Corral all-you-can-ea…