• by Steve Smith , Staff Writer @popeyesm, March 1, 2011

Books have become one of the most interesting sources of online video in the past year or so. As we have noted in VidBlog before, the new phenomenon of the book trailer has produced some stunningly good and often funny work. It gave us Thomas Pynchon's voice, narrating the trailer for his Inherent Vice trailer.

It gave us a hilarious send-up of book culture from Gary Shteyngart that included cameos by Manhattan's literary lions.

And it gave us several videos from authors who spent their time eschewing the concept of a book trailer altogether.  No sense of humor.

One guy who does get the joke and has become a quiet hit online is Washington Post book reviewer Ron Charles. He has created an ongoing series of videos that are less book reviews than they are funny takes on the cult of books.

"In these times you need book criticism that is fast, fun and incredibly hip," says Charles in one video. When he does review a book like Jonathan Fanzen's Freedom, he spends more time lampooning the hype around it than actually reviewing it. But he does get around to it and succeeds in keeping the critique lively but detailed. He uses props, scene changes and audio/video tricks to enhance his points. In another review he multiplies himself to dramatize his internal debate about a book.

Charles has a distinct advantage over other book reviewers. He is genuinely funny. But he also recognizes that the attributes of video can enhance what otherwise would be sculpted prose. He uses cuts, visual gags, and comic intros to slip the viewer into a more literate core. But he is smart enough to keep the narrative snappy and break up the evaluations with comedy bits.

This is not easy to do. But locating video skills may be critical to keeping old media relevant. As Charles demonstrates, it requires a unique blend of respect for traditional literary values and irreverence about the stolid conventions that limit these media as well. Here is hoping more media talent comes to find their own paths to embracing online video in ways that speak to the next generation of media readers and watchers in the platforms that they favor.