L. Gordon Crovitz on Great Books, in WSJ:

What happened to the Great Books? New media such as fast-paced television and bursts of information on the Web trump trudging through hard original texts. Social media and user-generated content are at odds with putting our trust in the judgment of even a Hutchins or Adler.
Still, a recent check of the Strand bookstore in New York City turned up several used sets of the Great Books for sale. Asked if they were popular, a young woman behind the cash register told me, “They’re a very popular holiday item. I really don’t know for whom.” Maybe, as the advertisements said, for the next vice president or chairman of the board.