Of Books and Blogs

© Howard Gardner 2025

For as long as I can remember, I have liked—indeed, loved—books. I read from an early age; I enjoyed the ordinary fare of young boys living in a non-intellectual environment—biographies, histories, sports, light novels. I treasured trips to the local library. As it happens, my father Ralph Gardner was a partner in a family business that sold books for children—but I am quite sure that was not a significant factor in my lexical choices. Except for my uncle Fred (about whom I have written in A Synthesizing Mind), no one in my family was particularly a consumer of books.

The insularity of my relationship to books was underscored when I became a freshman at Harvard College. I was surprised—perhaps even shocked—to discover that many of my professors had actually written books. I had thought—amazingly!—that the authors of books were all dead. Clearly, I had never before encountered individuals who wrote and published volumes.

My love affair with books has continued till today, when I am well into my ninth decade. Indeed, when, just before the start of the pandemic, my wife Ellen and I “downsized”—we had to give away about 5000 books. (Included inadvertently, to my regret, was a signed copy of Mohandas (Matahma) Gandhi’s autobiography—I hope that whoever now has the book realizes that they possess a treasure).

Fortunately, our new abode is located a short walk from one of Harvard’s many libraries (over 70) and the amazing system can secure almost any book that we might want. Even so, we have begun to accumulate sufficient numbers of new books that the other day we secured a new set of shelves. I spent a fun afternoon rearranging our books (now probably nearing 1000 in total).

Also, and perhaps equally surprising to my peers in graduate school, once I had decided to become a scholar, I became a writer of books. (Most of my classmates became writers of scholarly articles and rarely wrote books.) Penning a new book every year or two, I have now authored over thirty books. And when I was not writing books, I spent lots of time reading books as well as reviews of books—an indispensable aid when trying to decide which books to scan, to borrow, to buy—and to devote dedicated times to reading…and perhaps underlining. When a magazine arrives, I almost always look first at the book reviews and, to be honest, at what publisher issued the book. While the identity of the publisher is certainly not the only variable of interest, it does signal how carefully the book has been whetted.

Yet, having confessed freely my lifelong love of books, I need to update this portrait of my writing. I don’t think that I will conceive, write, and seek to publish any more free-standing books. And yet, at the same time, I have become an inveterate blogger. And while I know that at some point I will stop blogging, at this point in my life that’s the turn that my writing seems to have taken.

There are two reasons why I have shifted from books to blogs:

First, writing a book is a time-consuming process. In addition to having the idea, outlining, creating drafts, securing a publisher, getting feedback from editors and copyeditors, setting type, reading galleys and page proofs, waiting months for the bound books, and much longer to see whether there is any reaction to the book—and, if not, lamenting so much apparently wasted effort.

Katie Davis: Co-author of The App Generation

You can see why, in my 82nd year, I am loathe to embark on additional books—though, of course, I would never underscore “never.” Also, it’s worth emphasizing that two of my most recent books were co-authored—and that a lot of the aforementioned tasks were shared or taken on chiefly by my co-authors, Katie Davis and Wendy Fischman, respectively.

Wendy Fischman: Co-author of The Real World of College

But to be honest, there is another more profound reason—one that saddens me. And that is the dearth of readers of books, in general, and of the kind of books that I’ve authored in particular. I don’t want to wallow but I need to explain.

Even though many books continue to be written, acquired, published and sold, the book market has changed profoundly in the course of my lifetime. There used to be an appetite—indeed a hunger—for the kind of books that I write. Put simply, scholarly writing addressed to the intelligent general reader—what’s called the audience for “midlist books”—books which may never make a bestseller list but will continue to be bought and read. When I began to write books in the 1970s and 1980s, these were picked up by major publishers; I would be provided with a book tour, maybe even a multi-city one, staying at good hotels, being driven from one broadcast studio or publication to another in a limousine. And importantly—and relatedly—these books were often reviewed (and sometimes even advertised!) in major outlets—The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, and equivalent publications in England and much of Europe and Latin America.

By the start of the 21st century, all of this changed dramatically. No longer did major publishers show an interest in my work; it was primarily the purview of university presses; no book tours, few appearances in the broadcast media, almost no reviews, and certainly not in major outlets. To be sure, there were plenty of requests to appear on podcasts—but as far as I could ascertain, these broadcasts had no impact on sales.

Robert Greene: Influential author and expert on human behavior

Indeed—and this is fascinating to me—as far as I can detect, in the last decade or two, there is only one factor that has led to significant sales of any of my works. After selling modestly for decades, my book Frames of Mind: The theory of multiple intelligences—published originally in 1983!—has been selling very well for the last year or so. As far as anyone can determine, there is only one reason for this dramatic uptick in sales. An influencer, Robert Greene, whom I had never heard of and still have never met—declared that Frames of Mind was one of the most important books he’d ever read. And that boost alone—all alone—has increased sales dramatically; it’s even resulted in an invitation to my daughter-in-law, Vanessa, to create the audiobook, which has also sold well. And perhaps, just perhaps, influencers like Greene, have discovered an audience that is reached differently from readers in “my day.”

By now, you must certainly be thinking—“What a sourpuss. Why is Howard complaining—even as he thinks he is explaining—the lack of interest in his bound volumes?” Certainly, there are other scholars whose book sales are impressive—and it’s no surprise that the ideas and words of someone as aged as he is no longer “the talk of the town.” And you may well be right! But that leads to the second protagonist in this saga—the blog!

As mentioned, I have never been particularly attracted to writing scholarly articles, though I have written many, a lot of them co-authored. I used to write articles for the general public—but these are rarely solicited anymore. It’s too time consuming—and also discouraging—to try to place the occasional popular article in a widely circulated journal.

Many—perhaps most—of my peers have transitioned easily and perhaps happily to social media. They look regularly and respond predictably to the news and events of the day—particularly those related to their professional interest. They have a regular following with whom they are in satisfying and sometimes bilateral touch. And some of them build up sizeable audiences who come to rely on and spread their testimony and views. Among people whom I know well, the political commentator and scholar, Norman Ornstein, and the psychologist and public intellectual, Stephen Pinker, come to mind. They have and merit a presence on social media. And in my own sector of writers about education, Pasi Sahlberg stands out.

I’ve never been attracted to social media. You need to tune in regularly and predictably and be primed to deliver the worthy retort, quip or insight. If you ever go on holiday or have an extensive stay at the hospital, you risk losing your audience, your clientele. And the stipulated format—be it 180 characters or 180 words—is too procrustean for my taste and my temperament.

A few have also taken to podcasting—a more leisurely format but one that calls for technical expertise, an attractive visual format, and the ability to anticipate topics and trends two weeks or two months from now. I lack the talent and the patience for meeting these desiderata.

In sharp contrast: The blog seems designed with me in mind! The format—anywhere between 750 to 2500 words in length—is just right for most of what I want to say. And in those rare cases where 2500 words do not suffice, I can divide the blog into a few relatively-independent and self-standing contributions. Most of my blogs relate to a small number of topics—and accordingly they huddle under their respective tents:

To be specific:

Multiple Intelligences

My longest-term interest and the topic that continue to draw the most attention. Please refer to my website: MultipleIntelligencesOasis.org (click here for link). Direct link to the MI blog here.

The Synthesizing Mind

Once I was deeply into penning my professional memoir, I realized that my mind was not well described in terms of “MI” theory and concepts. Rather, it’s better defined and described as a synthesizing mind—one that examines various strands of knowledge and seeks to intertwine them in ways that make sense to me and to others.. Accordingly, In the last few years, dozens of blogs have sought to illuminate the nature of this powerful human cognitive capacity—one now being carried out—often better—by artificial intelligence (AI) systems. Click here for link to the blog.

The Good Project

By far the largest part of my research portfolio—and that of my closest colleagues—seeks an understanding the nature of, and promoting the achievement, of Good Work and Good Citizenship. Accordingly, a steady stream of blogs focus on the “pursuit of the good.” Please refer to The Good Project website (click here for link to the blog).

More specific topics

As our research group explores topics in greater depth, we will occasionally post relevant blogs.

Two current examples, we now have a blog on higher education, please refer to The Real World of College website (click here for the blog).

At the other end of the age spectrum, our focus on social and moral facets of early development falls under the heading of The Good Starts Project (click here for the blog).

Occasionally—and this blog is one of those occasions—the blog is of more general interest. Put differently and perhaps more accurately, it does not fit comfortably into one of the aforementioned bins. Perhaps it will eventually spawn its own literary offspring—In the present case, perhaps that housing my personal history, predilections, peeves. And, sorry, as an inveterate punsters, I can’t miss this opportunity—one or more of these collections might some day become “has bins.”

Looking Forward

More positively, as long as I feel able—mentally, physically, psychologically—I plan to continue to propose and write blogs. Thanks to my wife Ellen Winner, and my wonderful colleagues Shinri Furuzawa and Annie Stachura for their valuable critiques, to improve them; to post them; and then, without undue expectations, look to see whether there have been any comments—and, if I feel so disposed, respond to those comments. And on occasion, a blog—perhaps intact, perhaps improved—will become the basis of another kind of scholarly presentation or interchange. Indeed, it’s even conceivable that our much lengthier blog on “Who Owns intelligence” (click here for link) and our forthcoming substantial blog on “Truth, Beauty, and Goodness in the Era of the Influencer” might give rise to a publication that more closely resembles a book!!

Stepping Back

When, for whatever reason, I am no longer blogging, that does not mean that this entire literary exercise ceases. Indeed, it might make sense for me, or my wonderful associates, or a third party—to collect the blogs between two covers, so speak, and to create book(s) or booklet(s). They could appear under such titles as “Multiple Intelligences: Thoughts after Fifty Years” or “The Synthesizing Mind Seeks to Understand Itself ” or “Good Work Revisited: Ethics of Roles in the Era of AI.”

Hallellujah! No need to look for, agents, editors, publishers, proofreaders, publicists: We can simply post these or package these on Amazon or its contemporary equivalent site. We can either offer them gratis or for a very modest fee. Indeed, that is what we have done with the two volumes of my Festschrift. Just click here for a free link or click here for the Amazon link.

As long as I can read, I will continue to read Books (or listen to them!) And as long as I can write, I expect that my primary genre will be The Blog.

For their helpful comments on several earlier drafts, I thank Shinri Furuzawa, Annie Stachura, and Ellen Winner.

References

Fischman, W., & Gardner, H. (2022). The Real World of College : What higher education is and what it can be. The MIT Press.

Gardner, H. (2020). A Synthesizing Mind : A memoir from the creator of multiple intelligences theory. The MIT Press.

Gardner, H., & Davis, K. (2013). The App Generation : How today’s youth navigate identity, intimacy, and imagination in a digital world. Yale University Press.