{"version":"1.0","type":"link","provider_name":"Hardcover","provider_url":"https://hardcover.app","cache_age":86400,"title":"The Reading Ace 🖤🤍💜's review of In Praise of Good Bookstores","url":"https://hardcover.app/books/in-praise-of-good-bookstores/reviews/@thereadingace","author_name":"The Reading Ace 🖤🤍💜","author_url":"https://hardcover.app/@thereadingace","description":"\u0026lt;p\u0026gt;He has several interesting ideas about what a \u0026amp;quot;good\u0026amp;quot; bookstore entails, but they are more idealistic then realistic. The Seminary Co-op Bookstore, where he was formerly co-director, is lauded as a not-for-profit bookstore. Is it nice that they\u0026amp;#39;re able to keep stock on shelves, and not worry about miscellanea to boost their profit margins? Sure - it\u0026amp;#39;s a very romantic idea of a bookstore.\u0026lt;/p\u0026gt;\u0026lt;p\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;/p\u0026gt;\u0026lt;p\u0026gt;But most bookstores these days - even bigger chains, like Barnes \u0026amp;amp; Noble - aren\u0026amp;#39;t large endeavors supported by a university. They can\u0026amp;#39;t afford to live up to Deutsch\u0026amp;#39;s ideal of the \u0026amp;quot;good\u0026amp;quot; bookstore.\u0026lt;/p\u0026gt;\u0026lt;p\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;/p\u0026gt;\u0026lt;p\u0026gt;Also not a fan of the consumer shaming.\u0026lt;/p\u0026gt;\u0026lt;p\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;/p\u0026gt;\u0026lt;p\u0026gt;Deutsch makes the argument that, rather than spending $17 on a cigarettes or a latte, people today should be spending that $17 on a book instead! \u0026lt;/p\u0026gt;\u0026lt;p\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;/p\u0026gt;\u0026lt;p\u0026gt;\u0026lt;i\u0026gt;\u0026amp;quot;The average consumer who would think nothing of spending $17 on a couple of packs of cigarettes, or a couple of lattes and some baked goods, bristles at spending the same amount for a copy of a book that might provide untold hours of reflection and unquantifiable fulfillment.\u0026lt;/i\u0026gt;\u0026lt;/p\u0026gt;\u0026lt;p\u0026gt;\u0026lt;i\u0026gt;\u0026lt;/i\u0026gt;\u0026lt;/p\u0026gt;\u0026lt;p\u0026gt;\u0026lt;i\u0026gt;I don\u0026amp;#39;t continue to derive pleasure from - nor even recall - what I had for breakfast last week, much less last year, but I can tell you what I was reading when I took my first bookselling job in 1994: Tell Me How Long the Train\u0026amp;#39;s Been Gone by James Baldwin.\u0026amp;quot;\u0026lt;/i\u0026gt;\u0026lt;/p\u0026gt;\u0026lt;p\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;/p\u0026gt;\u0026lt;p\u0026gt;Because food is gone after you eat it, but a good book can touch you forever. And, I mean, I get it - people should definitely buy more books. But the entire thing just smacks of the whole \u0026amp;quot;Millenials are killing the x industry because they\u0026amp;#39;re spending all their money on avocado toast!\u0026amp;quot; mentality. There are several social and economical reasons why people might balk at the cost of new books (especially hardcovers, which are more durable in the long run) and I promise you that buying themselves a nice coffee in the morning is not one of them. You are upset at the wrong people.\u0026lt;/p\u0026gt;\u0026lt;p\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;/p\u0026gt;\u0026lt;p\u0026gt;He also gets weird about libraries, which I\u0026amp;#39;m choosing to chalk up to his romantic ideal of what a library \u0026amp;quot;should\u0026amp;quot; be:\u0026lt;/p\u0026gt;\u0026lt;p\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;/p\u0026gt;\u0026lt;p\u0026gt;\u0026lt;i\u0026gt;\u0026amp;quot;While municipalities offering services to their communities, such as internet access, civic activities, maker labels, and tool-lending libraries, is a wonderful development, there is no reason why these services should be adjuncts to the library when they would fit more naturally in a community center. As it stands, these services, currently offered by many libraries, dilute the original purpose of a library as a storehouse of books, just as socks and tchotchkes dilute the bookstore\u0026amp;#39;s ability to do the same.\u0026amp;quot;\u0026lt;/i\u0026gt;\u0026lt;/p\u0026gt;\u0026lt;p\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;/p\u0026gt;\u0026lt;p\u0026gt;Would it be nice if libraries were \u0026lt;i\u0026gt;only\u0026lt;/i\u0026gt; repositories of books? Sure - not having activities or supplemental lending libraries would increase the space for books, which helps serve a wider variety of readers. But in the 4 US states and 6 cities that I\u0026amp;#39;ve lived in, only ONCE have I been within reasonable distance to a community center. You know what were always close and accessible to a dirt-poor teenager who couldn\u0026amp;#39;t even afford bus fare, though? Public libraries.\u0026lt;/p\u0026gt;\u0026lt;p\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;/p\u0026gt;\u0026lt;p\u0026gt;I did not mean for this to turn into such a rant. I\u0026amp;#39;m just gonna stop myself there, before I start on about his ideas about the kinds of books people \u0026amp;quot;should\u0026amp;quot; be reading.\u0026lt;/p\u0026gt;","thumbnail_url":"https://assets.hardcover.app/external_data/59785772/aae20fd55d08b8eecc161940cf9e91ae9429b656.jpeg","thumbnail_width":329,"thumbnail_height":500}