The Daily Rumpus
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From Stephen Elliott
Who doesn’t want to validate their decision to purchase an e-book by seeing it in physical form at a bookstore first?
At Melville House, Dennis Johnson discusses how the rapid demise of Barnes & Noble is slowly sucking the life out of the e-book industry.
...moreIf the Strand is a palace for books, then Ben McFall is king—of its fiction section, at least.
A New York Times profile of McFall discusses his history with, knowledge of, and love for the legendary bookstore:
...more“It seems like a feat, but if it were your house, you’d know where things are, too,” Mr.
Another bookstore closes and San Francisco yawns. But Adobe Books on 16th Street, between Valencia and Guerrero isn’t another bookstore. It is a haven, a port for lonely souls, readers.
...moreThe good news, as The Atlantic Wire reported yesterday, is many bookstores in Manhattan and Brooklyn managed to weather the storm, and should be—if they aren’t already—doing business as usual within the next day or so.
The bad news is powerHouse Arena, a beloved bookstore situated in the DUMBO neighborhood of Brooklyn, was not so lucky.
...moreThe New York Times reported yesterday on the notable difference between independent bookstores in France, and their struggling American counterparts.
The article describes the way in which government intervention and price fixing for French-language books has buoyed printed literature in the era of the e-book.
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The bookstore I worked at in college recently closed. I hadn’t thought of the store in probably a few years, hadn’t set foot inside in considerably longer.
George Whitman, owner of Shakespeare & Company, the famous Parisian English-language bookstore, passed away yesterday. Of his 98 years of life, 60 were devoted to his bookstore (the sister shop to San Francisco’s City Lights) described as an “offbeat mix of open house and literary commune.”
...more“Cooper Union agreed to reduce the St. Mark’s Bookshop’s rent by $2,500 a month for the next year and send students to help St. Mark’s create a more sustainable business plan.”
St. Mark’s bookshop is still in business and ready to party.
...moreHere’s more fuel for the dialogue on brick and mortar bookstores and their integral role in creating and supporting the literary community. HTML Giant’s got a double dose of input on the subject—a video of Matthew Stadler delineating the difference between readers and shoppers, and an essay in The Stranger by Paul Constant, encouraging us to take action.
...moreThis massive Milwaukee bookstore is overflowing with small press publications—an awesome bookstore size-to-indie love ratio that doesn’t seem to happen as much as it should.
Besides Woodland Pattern’s impressively diverse chapbook section, the bookstore is integral to the literature community in Milwaukee.
...moreIt’s the age of all-things digital and this era of dwindling printed publications brings with it some serious losses. Among them, is the loss of the of the five-finger discount.
Stealing books, which some authors have cited as a phase in their literary development, doesn’t really have a place in the age of digital media, which devalues print and makes stealing unnecessary.
...more“The number of books I buy while sober is, I have noticed, inversely proportional to the number I buy while drunk. It’s a zero-sum game, as Proust once observed of wet dreams: when all the resources are consumed in the night, none are left for waking life.”
Elif Batuman on the joys and perils of book-buying while intoxicated.
...moreIt’s something of a major milestone to keep an independent, used bookstore running for twenty-five years.
And that’s exactly what Phoenix Books in San Francisco is celebrating this month.
So as an Anniversary celebration and as part of Noe Valley Celebrates the Book, Phoenix is hosting some incredible authors this evening from six to eight p.m.
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Stacey’s, on Market Street in San Francisco, is going to close it’s doors in March. Stacey’s was (is?) well regarded for helpful service, a fantastic selection, and a great location for people working downtown. They also ran a popular noon reading series so people could see readings during their lunch break.
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