This morning I got up and made coffee. No one else was up yet so I went into the living room and flipped on the television. After surfing and stopping by the Bare Essentuals infomercial, and some exercise infomercial with big-lipped Lisa Rinna, I landed on CSpan 2. They were broadcasting live from the America BookExpo in Washington DC. I could have gone again this year (remember a few years ago, I attended in Chicago where I saw, heard and groped the hand of Bill Clinton when his My Story was due to debut?) Such memories. I should have gone this year. Sigh.
Anyway, today at the Author Breakfast, I heard Amy Sedaris and John Updike. I think I missed Barack Obama. But Sedaris and Updike . . .what a combo, eh? She’s the sister of David Sedaris and hilarious in her own right. Updike, instead of discussing his new book Terrorist, instead chose to talk about books and booksellers. He made me misty-eyed. He talked of a time before the huge superstore bookstores that sell high priced coffee (no offense Respighi). . .of a time of neighborhood bookshops, of college bookstores, of the looks and smells of books, and of booksellers who actual know and read books! CSpan replays everything, so try and catch this sometime.
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9 comments:
Remember Amy's show, "Strangers with Candy"? It was hilarious--I'd love to have it on DVD.
Thanks for the heads-up! I'm going to tape the breakfast off of CSPAN2 tonight!
I don't take offense when people lament over the loss of the bookstores of yesteryear. But I will offer this tidbit of information for people to chew on:
The profit on those overpriced coffee drinks are what allows bookstores to maintain a poetry section, a philosopy section, a Native American studies section. With very few exceptions, none of these sections (and many many of their counterparts) can sell enough books on their own to pay for the shelf space their product is 'leasing' in the store. It is thanks to cafes, blank journals, greeting cards, gift bags, etc. that most bookstores are able to maintain any kind of proper book selection.
REspighi,
That doesn't wash. The independent bookstores of yesteryear had poetry sections, philosophy, etc without the overpriced coffee areas. We got the superstore bookstores of today because of this country's WalMart mindset. Soon I think the B&N and the Border's etc superstores will be near extinction. The Internet makes life easier for lazy people
Berkeley is full of independent book stores (I love heading up there on a Saturday afternoon) and they all have those sections.
It's interesting to me that our Yorba Linda Border's store is constantly packed. It's hard to get a parking place, and it's impossible to get a seat on a chair or sofa, or in the coffee shop.
I think it's because, contrived and artificial though it may be, the Border's store has a feeling of community. It's a place to hang out, and in our town of massive housing additions and the occasional grocery store, it fills a role that nothing else does.
I love small, independent bookstores, but I also like Borders and B&N and I buy books on Amazon a lot too.I'm such a bookwhore I don't really care where I buy them, but if I see a little used bookstore I always drop in and try to find something to buy to keep them around.
the only bookstore in town here is primarily a "Christian" one. (read that as fundie-evangelist Christian) [sob]
Emma, the bookstores of yesteryear definitely had all those sections such as poetry and philosophy. That doesn't mean they made any money off of them. Certainly some stores in some towns sell poetry better than other stores. Different publishers give different discounts on their product. Small and university presses usually don't give the same discount as a Random House or S&S. Poetry, philosophy, and other more cerebral sections are chock full of books from these small and uni publishers, so the margin on an individual item is very low. The cafes not only add ambiance, provide a destination, and create a meeting place for people, it also helps drive the top and bottom line.
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