WSJ to add book review section

John Koblin of the New York Observer reports that The Wall Street Journal plans to launch a book-review section this fall.

Koblin writes, “The book review will be a pull-out section that will be inserted in one of the newly created sections for The Weekend Journal that will launch later this month. It is unclear how many pages will be dedicated to the new book review, but one source said it will be ‘significant,’ though it’s uncertain if that means it will surpass The Times‘ usual 20-plus pages for its weekly Sunday Book Review, or if it will be in the same ballpark.

“The section will be led by Robert Messenger who has been an editor at The Weekly Standard, a former editor of The Atlantic and — surprise! — one of the founding editors of The New York Sun. Mr. Messenger will be in charge of the weekly book review section and will also oversee the Journal‘s daily book reviews for the web and for the paper. Erich Eichman, who has been the books editor at the Journal since 1994, will now report to Mr. Messenger.

“The book review pull-out will be inserted in a new section that will be edited by recent Journal hire Gary Rosen, a former editor at Commentary and, most recently, the chief external affairs officer at the John Templeton Foundation. Sources would not spill details about Mr. Rosen’s new super secret section, but it will be distinct from Deborah Needleman‘s lifestlye section for the Saturday paper.”

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