Beating the Dead Book Horse...

I just thought of something in regard to the discussion about indie bookstores versus the corporate monster bookstores...everyone engaged in this discussion probably buys at least 75% of their books at HalfPrice Books or a similar used bookstore which deprives indie AND corporate booksellers, publishers and authors of any money.

I'm not ashamed to admit it. As a book lover, if I can buy 10 used books for the price of ONE new book, I'm going to go for the big bargain...like MOST book lovers with limited means, which today means pretty much everybody...

More Bookstore Chat....

I got reamed a bit on Paul Constant's post, so I just HAD to respond, (no, I don't know when to quit and yes, I have a big mouth...DUH!)

oh, give me a fuckin' break.

yes, I loooooove good indie bookstores but this notion that every town and neighborhood in America was once dotted with hardwood floored, exposed brick, indirectly lit, cinnamon/patchouli scented, cheery little indie bookstores lovingly stocked and run by bookloving hippies with grey ponytails and happy librarian-type ladies is so much bullshit. For one thing, those kinds of stores have ALWAYS been the exception, not the norm and 90% of them came into existence in the late 60's and early 70's founded by book loving, arty/litty, hippie types; they're a fairly recent thing. You found/find them in college towns, arty resort towns, and bohemian neighborhoods in large cities but not in the vast majority of America. The greatest number of indie booksellers in this country were small glorified newstands/stationary/card stores...they had a long wall of magazines, a small room or area of kid lit (maybe), quite a lot of space devoted to cards and gifts and racks and racks of mass-market, popular paperbacks...there wasn't much devoted to non-fiction or serious literature and most of those stores were very suspicious of hardbacks and trade sized books. When you've been reading about the 200 or 300 or 400 indie bookstores that close every year for the last 25 years, the majority of the stores closing, were those kinds of stores, and yes, it is sad when ANY kind of bookstore closes, but these weren't the kinds of bookstores that y'all revere. And yes, the big guys are largely responsible for their demise which is sad but does it make the big guys evil by their mere presence? No, it doesn't. The advent of the chains meant that millions of people had access to a much wider variety of books than ever before, especially people that live outside of liberal, arty areas and the urban core. That's a good thing. The big stores like B&N and Borders that really started to grow in the 90's exposed people to an even larger inventory; they have history sections that are larger than many neighborhood indie stores! Does that mean I don't still shop at indie stores? Of course not. I love having a bookstore in my neighborhood, locally owned and operated by an owner who loves books. But if Michael at BaileyCoy doesn't have a book I really, really want and I know I can get that book downtown at Borders, I'm going to go buy it at Borders and not wait the two weeks it would take if I ordered it at BaileyCoy. And for folks in the sticks; the Pocatellos and Topekas and Amarillos of the world, their local big bookseller is the only option they have and to be honest, probably the best option they've ever had.

(as for the big chains having a negative impact on publishing, that's a different kettle of stinky fish...but most chains can have some kind of negative impact on their suppliers which leads to standardization and blandness in everything from fashion to home decor...)

(and as for the loving attentions of indie bookstore clerks, that's also a lot of horseshit...for every nice, knowledgible, helpful clerk I've met 4 that were either irritating, hipster jerks or idiots that didn't know what they were doing...like in most retail stores...book retailing is NOT a sacred brother/sisterhood)

Paul Constant has a post on SLOG bemoaning the loss of indie bookstores.

It kind of irked me so I wrote a HUGE comment in reply to that original post, but it's far too long to post there, so I'm posting it here:

ya know, it IS kind of sad when big chains kill off locally owned independent book stores, but why should books be any different than any other commodity? Why is it a greater day for mourning when your local "Book Nook" is forced to close than when it's "Barney's Friendly Hardware" or "Appleoff Family Appliance"? Is the corporate commercialization of certain kinds of businesses taboo because those businesses are cute and beloved?

That's kind of silly.

We live in a capitalist society where the goal is to make increasing large amounts of profit. That's both a good and a bad thing but the alternatives are totalitarianism and socialism. Socialism has some advantages, but it's not perfect, and is it really the responsibility of a socialist government to financially support heartfelt businesses like indie bookstores, because they make us feel warm and fuzzy on the inside?

uh, no.

And the chain bookstores ARE kind of soulless but as a kid growing up in a small town Midwest town, my local book buying was confined to what they had at the local Pamida (a regional, rinky-dink version of Walmart) in their tiny book section, or what was on those wire display units at the local pharmacies. If I wanted to go to a real bookstore, my choices were a Waldenbooks or a B. Dalton in the nearest "big" cities of St Joe, Missouri or Topeka, Kansas...and you know what, thank god for those chain bookstores. And, both Topeka and St Joe had indie bookstores, but they weren't that great...lots of popular paperbacks, magazines and large Christian sections...they weren't the twee, wood floored, coffee scented enclaves of knowledge and wonderment presided over by quaint, loving bibliophiles...it seems like they were usually run by prune-faced, overweight matrons or dim-witted teens that weren't that knowledgable or willing to recommend a regional literary delight. And it seems like the majority of clerks in chain bookstores are booklovers themselves, happy to recommend good books they've encountered and more than willing to promote unsung authors. And, if anyone thinks that the demise of any of the big book chains is going to be GOOD for booklovers, and that the indie bookstore is going to make some sort of huge comeback, I think you're deluding yourselves. Books have awful profit margins, retail is a bitch and the result is going to be fewer bookstores, both chain and indie, and people not going to have the option to personally buy ANY books inside a bricks and mortar store...and that sucks

Payday!

So I stupidly wandered onto Amazon.com to do a little browsing, and now I have two (used) books and two (new) DVD's on their way to me, which I really cannot afford and what little extra money I had this week should have been spent on getting some new shoes since my primary pair of sneakers, (fake Chuck Taylors from Payless) have holes in their soles...

The reason I went to Amazon in the first place, was to check out Ron Jeremy's biography. There was a piece about it in Time which was reprinted on Defamer and I was assuming that it was a recent thing, but it was published over a year ago so I'm a little confused as to why it's getting press at this late date. I guess it really isn't that big of a surprise, considering that The Hedgehog is a master of self-promotion, but it's still a bit strange... I'm also posting this hot, hot picture of him, and yeah, I think Ron WAS hot, for about a week and a half, back in the day when he was just a hairy, humpy, middle class, Jewish, school teacher in his early 20's trying to break into show business. I admit he hasn't aged well, but, who the hell has besides Senator Rodham Clinton and Helen Mirren?

And to balance out the very hetero book purchase, I also ordered the bio of Hollywood costume designer Edith Head and was thrilled to discover that her hard to find and pricy autobiography is being reprinted next month, which I didn't order.

And my two DVD purchases were similarly yin/yang or faggy/breedery...David Fincher's "Zodiac" film from last year and the Claudette Colbert starring "Midnight", a Billy Wilder co-penned screwball comedy from 1939 directed by Mitchell Leisen. I thought "Zodiac" was one of the best films of last year, and unfortunately ignored by the end of the year awards and "Midnight" is just a delightful romp, in the same league with "Bringing Up, Baby" and "The Lady Eve".

UPDATE: The Jeremy and Head books were slight but entertaining; Zodiac is an excellent thriller and David Fincher's best work and the deluxe dvd has some great features including interviews with many of the people from the case, but "Midnight" was a bit of a disappointment; not as good as I had remembered it. It still has charm and some laughs and I still recommend seeing this movie, but it's NOT quite in the same league with Baby/Eve...(but John Barrymore is very funny in one of his final roles.)

Fairey does Orwell

Penguin Books hired Shepard Fairey to do covers for new editions of Animal Farm and 1984. They look gorgeous and I want to rush out and buy them, but not to read, to hang on my wall...

Why Taschen is the greatest book publishers in the world...

This book has already been out for awhile...and I'm guessing it's been a best seller for the company. I mean, who doesn't like a book devoted to big honkers and hooters?

So it's not a big surprise that the Teutonic pole smokers at Taschen are bringing out THIS for June, (have you noticed how so many gay things get released in June? I guess the homos like buying gifts for each other during gay pride...)


The cover image is the safest one I can post and keep my site relatively clean. For naughtier images go to the Taschen website where you can pre-order the book. There's some very iconic schlong in this book, both gay and straight, including a gorgeous shot of a very young Kristen Bjorn with his juicy, fat wang being pressed up against a window. I'm guessing, this baby is going to sell out and hopefully will get re-printed.

Here's a blurb from the website:

When it comes to pleasure, size doesn’t matter; as we all know it’s quality, not quantity, that counts. But let’s admit it: a big penis is undeniably compelling. Big shoulders, big lapels, and big hair may come and go, but the big penis never goes out of fashion. With those possessing more than 8 inches (20 cm) making up less than 2% of the world’s population, this rare accessory will always fascinate.

In this companion volume to The Big Book of Breasts, we explore the centuries-old fascination with the large phallus, a fascination common to men and women alike. This hefty book is profusely illustrated with over 400 historic photos of spectacular male endowments, including rare photos of the legendary John Holmes. The majority of the photographs are from the 1970s, when the sexual revolution first freed photographers to depict the male entirely nude. Photographers include Bob Mizer of Athletic Model Guild, David Hurles of Old Reliable, Colt, Falcon, Sierra Domino, Third World, and Champion Studios, with each of these iconic photographers interviewed or profiled, along with information about each of their models.

http://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/sex/all/05703/facts.the_big_penis_book.htm

It's about time...David Sedaris has a new book coming out!

"When You Are Engulfed In Flames" comes out June 3rd, 2008 and he'll be in Seattle on the 23rd and 24th to do readings at Elliot Bay and Third Place Books.

Now if we can just get Amy to put out something new...

I'm not posting much today; I'm tired!

I went to Septieme last night for a friend's birthday and had yummy Vanilla Lemon Drops and Schweinschnitzel served by the fabulous Rodney, then, when I got home I stayed up to midnight reading the last Eric Larson book, Thunderstuck, about the Crippen murder case and the invention of the Marconi wireless which I bought last night at Bailey/Coy when I got a birthday present (No Country for Old Men) for my friend. I'm sooooo tired today, and sick of the cold weather. I would much rather be at home reading my book and curled up in my big armchair with a cat on my lap...