Patricia Storms has been offering reports and interviews on independent bookstores. Her latest report is on The Bookmark and is starting to delve into interesting description and history. I’d say that between this, The Bookstore Tourism Blog and Betsy Burton’s memoir, The King’s English: Adventures of an Independent Bookseller, indie bookstores are starting to nab their respective due for posterity. But why has no one thought to write a history of independent bookstores as a whole?
Category / Bookstores
The Bookstore That Cried Wolf?
Frances notes that Book Passage, the independent bookstore in Corte Madera, might be in trouble. It seems that a Barnes & Noble may be moving into the vacated storefront (once occupied by a Marshall’s) at the Town Center shopping mall. (At this point, Town Center management hasn’t revealed who the new tenant is.) A number of Corte Madera residents are quite upset about this.
Even so, the devil’s advocate in me has to ask why there’s so much uproar over what is, at this point, just an unconfirmed rumor. Why, for example, did the Independent Journal‘s Jim Staats fail to call Barnes & Noble Corporate or its legal counsel to get definitive answers? (Staats notes that he spoke with “Barnes & Noble spokesmen,” but judging from the article’s reliance managers at other B&N stores.) All we have then is this article are unsubstantiated rumors from the Corte Madera residents. Would not there be papers filed with the Corte Madera Zoning Administrator? City planning papers? Documents outlining any necessary retrofits of the property?
I’m wondering if there is much ado here about nothing. I’d hate to see Corte Madera literary types waste so much time over, say, another Best Buy store.
Yours Is Not to Question Why
An employee who worked at a bookstore and wrote about a Rachael Ray appearance has been fired for venturing his opinion. We don’t have cable ourselves and watch television perhaps once a solstice, but we have to agree that we’re a little skeptical about colossal attention given to someone who has created something called the “mini-cheeseburger salad.” (via Bookslut)
Indie Bookstores: Not Unlike a Bedside Manner
Bookdwarf, who is apparently more quick on the draw with my hometown newspaper than I am, points to this interesting claim by A Clean Well-Lighted Place President Neal Sofman. Sofman discovered a study of Chicago merchants illustrating that local retailers recirculate more of their sales dollars into the local economy than do chains. The study in question can be found here. If this is indeed the case, then why are the big publishers spending a substantial chunk of their promotion money placing authors into large corporate venues like Borders (and, for that matter, withholding their authors from smaller and more independent media outlets)? Would not a more targeted and devoted audience of readers more inclined to buy books and shift cash into the local economy be a more effective marketing strategy?
In Which Jennifer Weiner Is Assaulted by the Marina People
Jennifer Weiner is back home and she notes this strange question about a woman asking her at the San Francisco Barnes & Noble if she was “self-actualized.” This is not much of a surprise, as this Barnes & Noble is very close to the Marina. Such strange terminology is bandied about by residents there on a daily basis. Although for those of us in the Haight and the Mission, we would never think of asking any distinguished lady if she was “self-actualized,” as most living bipedal mammals, are by their very nature already quite actualized by way of living, breathing, thinking and feeling. On behalf of my fellow San Franciscans, I apologize to Ms. Weiner for being frightened by the Marina people and hope that the publicists book her in safer quarters for the next book.
Powell’s — Another Outlet Promoting Online Classism?
What M.A.O. said. Dave Weich can keep living in a glass tower as long he wants. But to take on the attitude that one must have a credit card in order to survive, let alone purchase books, is to subscribe to the same atavistic and paralogic thinking as doze poor peeples kints read and dere checks will bounce bekaz dey poor. Shame on Weich and shame on Powell’s for refusing to accommodate a form of payment that has been around much longer than the credit card.
[UPDATE: Dave Weich responds to Orother over at Maud’s.]
Kepler’s Lives. Cody’s Lives.
I haven’t checked it out yet, but the SFist has the scoop on the new Cody’s near Virgin Megastore. Beyond the delicious irony of the failed Planet Hollywood (co-owned by the Governator) space now being occupied by floors of books, it looks like a positively fantastic place to hole up for an afternoon. Between this and the Kepler’s reopening, it looks like a veritable golden age for Bay Area indie bookstores.
Disagree With a Politician and You’re a “Security Threat” — Even When You’re a Minor
Common Dreams reports on a very disturbing incident that occurred at a Delaware Barnes & Noble (as more specifically reported here). Eighteen year-old Hannah Shaffer saw that Senator Rick Santorum had a book called It Takes a Family and that he would be reading at Barnes & Noble. Shaffer decided to go there with with some friends the idea of telling Santorum that he disagreed with his policies. Noting Santorum’s stance on gay rights, someone suggested that Santorum sign a book by Dan Savage.
Apparently, an advance team working for Santorum overheard this, concluded that Shaffer and her friends were “a security threat” and asked them to leave by a Delaware State Policeman named Mark DiJiacomo. The group was then told by DiJiacommo that anyone who didn’t leave would be sent to prison immediately on a trespassing charge. Most of the people left, with the exception of two brave kids named Stacey Galperin and Miriam Rocek, where more threats apparently ensued.
Even worse: DiJiacomo didn’t consult B&N’s store management and he was on Santorum’s employ.
If Only They Can Reshelve Certain Goons From 1600 Penn to Penn Block 1600
The Ministry of Reshelving has a fun and mischevious project on their hands. They hope to redistribute copies of 1984 from the fiction section to various nonfiction sections. (via MeFi)
Seven Pillars of Bookstore Customers
The Book Geek: S/he can be counted upon to buy something obscure or with literary underground streetcred (like say Steve Erickson or Kathy Acker) and will spend at least 20 minutes displaying her knowledge in front of a clerk or whoever else will listen. Unfortunately, it’s the clerks who are often the victims, as they have to stand for 8+ hours listening to this. (Variation: The Laconic Book Geek, who is a terrible eavesdropper, often nervous, and will sometimes bail a New Literate/Book Geek out at the last minute. Bookstore clerks who hope to avoid needless conversation with Book Geeks are advised to have a Laconic Book Geek on staff.)
The Former Bookstore Clerk: Unable to find a new job or perhaps wafting in the nostalgia of younger and more idealistic days of starvation, the Former Bookstore Clerk is more concerned with a bookstore’s decor and staff, than the books in question. Former Bookstore Clerks often end up owning their own used bookstores, for lack of a better purpose in life, sometimes harassing other customers just because they can.
The Macker: A thirtysomething (or older) who spends evenings and weekends ogling over the opposite (or same) sex. Not necessarily bad-looking, but definitely missed out on a lot of good fucking during their twenties, perhaps because they spent too much time intellectualizing sex and relationships. Trying to make up for lost time. Has perfected art of pretend reading, which affords opportunities to check out interesting anatomy by peering over hardcover spines. Often equipped with basic knowledge of liberal arts to spawn conversation.
The New Literate: A bookstore customer who has rediscovered books the same way that born again Christians rediscover God. New Literates can be just as passionate in their conversation as Book Geeks, but since their knowledge of contemporary literature is close to nil, they can at least be persuaded to talk about something else. On the whole, New Literates are friendly and susceptible to remembering good book choices.
The Reader: This person will never buy a book and spends time in bookstores reading the latest hardcovers, hoping to remain in the loop on current titles. Often unemployed, sometimes deranged, the Reader is generally benign provided that they have several books and tables to themsleves. The Reader has strange dietary habits, which are timed with the opening and closing of the store.
The Solipsist: The Solipsist differs from the Reader in that (a) he does not read and (b) he doesn’t particularly care about books. The Solipsist often views the bookstore as a temporary Witness Protection Program, a refuge from the rain or the hard realities of existence. He is perhaps fleeing a lover, requires to be lost within his own thoughts, or is looking for an exotic locale to mask his momentary contempt for the human race. The Solipsist doesn’t spend as much time in a bookstore as The Reader, but he can be just as snarly.
Spoilsport Acquaintance: The acquaintance who doesn’t really like you, but who feels compelled to “run into you,” snubbing your reading choice by saying, “I read that YEARS ago” or “That book was OKAY” just as you are about to slide your credit card. Too cowardly and dishonest to acknowledge the truth, Spoilsport Acquintances pose no threat to the bookstore employee, but are considerably vexing for manic depressives. (And it is worth noting that Spoilsport Acquaintaces are often manic depressives themselves!)
On the Rebound
Perhaps consulting the will of Dr. Evil, Susanna Clarke has netted a millionaire’s deal for Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, an 800-page novel dealing with the last two magicians in England. Fortunately, Clarke has staved off Harry Potter ripoff claims. Because Clarke conveniently started her book “10 years before.” News of the Clarke deal has spread far and wide across the publishing industry, with agents encouraging novelists to “backdate their drafts” for anything remotely derivative.
Is David Mitchell’s Ireland’s answer to Pynchon? The Telegraph tries to find out (user: ed@edrants.com, pw: mabuse). Mitchell is one of Granta’s 20 Best Young UK Novelists. And Sam Leith believes that Mitchell’s latest, The Cloud Atlas, will be one of the highest praised books of the year.
Judith Jones will fuck your shit up. Not only has she given John Updike at least three black eyes, but she’s also lacerated Anne Tyler several times while editing her novels. However, the Baltimore Sun concludes that Jones is an editor who balances gentleness with harsh intervention, when necessary.
Borders is tapping into inner-city neighborhoods. The Times claims that recent stores built in Detroit and Chicago are for “underserved” neighborhoods. The Detroit Free Press suggests that there’s plenty of indepdent life still left. The Detroit store was built in a downtown section that once housed sizable retail. And at 8,000 square feet, it’s apparently “the biggest store since Hudson’s closed 20 years ago.” Borders claims the Chicago store in Uptown is an effort to “revitalize” a commercial district, but it looks like gentrification to me.
Salon has a mystery round-up, which should please Sarah.
Meghan O’Rourke claims that Naomi Wolf is setting the fight against harassment back. More from the Observer.
Sean “Puffy” Combs and Raisin in the Sun? Say it ain’t so.
Chick lit, lad lit, and now Can lit. But in this case, it looks like David Solway may be Canda’s answer to Dale Peck.
Did the Van Man Wear Ray Bans?
Ronald Jordan, known as the White Van Man, stole tens of thousands of Lonely Planet guides and hawked them on the street with help of a few shadowy vendors. But he’s now been caught. London police have described the case as “a flashback to Victorian London,” though when pressed on whether Jordan wore gaiters and a silk cravat, they were unable to offer clear answers. The internal affairs unit has unearthed several “large Thackeray and Dickens collections” behind police lockers. “The lads aren’t taking drugs,” said London Police spokesman Peter Thorin. “They were overworked and were getting bored with the tedious work. So they read a lot on their spare time and started seeing associations that didn’t exist.”
A Books-A-Million in Alabama has removed Playboy and Playgirl from its shelves. The decision came because Alabama has one of the toughest anti-obscenity laws on the books. Apparently, display of human genitalia, buttocks or female breasts “for entertainment purposes” is verboeten. I’m surprised that the bookstore didn’t counter this. It’s clear to me they were selling the magazines “for commercial purposes.”
If you’re wondering what happened to Freaky Friday author Mary Rodgers, she’s still around. (Yes, I read all those books when I was a lad too, including A Billion for Boris and Summer Switch.) She’s 73, and her 1959 musical Once Upon A Mattress is being staged for a comeback.
Big surprise of the day: McSweeney’s puts up something funny.
The Rise of the Creative Class author Richard Florida suggests that current economic trends may be discouraging vital creativity.
And The New York Times reports that Bonslav Pekic is staging a comeback from the grave. Purportedly one of the finest writers in the Serbian language, Northwestern University Press has announced that a translation How to Quiet a Vampire will be released in the spring.
Quick Quickies
Margaret Drabble on Bloomsbury (via ElegVar, a Unix-like acronym I couldn’t resist)
Journalista investigates the implications of Borders’ “category management” on graphic novels.
Unusual San Francisco Architecture and The Map Room (a blog abut maps) (both via Menlo)
Defective Yeti has a heck of a forward-thinking scheme for making money off conservatives.
Slate: Should students be allowed to hook up with professors? The great irony is that the article was written by Against Love author Laura Kipnis! (via Chica)
Jonathan Yardley takes on The Reivers (which is in my bookpile). (via Sarah)