It won’t surprise regular readers of this site, which routinely suggests buying from independent bookstores and which links to Powell’s most often, rather than Amazon (though we get no kickback from Powell’s, we just like them), to learn that I agree more with Russo than with Manjoo. But I found them both ranty, and therefore not the most useful frame for this debate, not only because they’re not really listening to or considering this situation–they’re just responding–but also because they pose the choice as an either/or. Either never buy from Amazon because if you do you’re a heartless capitalist who is destroying “real-life” literary culture, or always buy from Amazon because it’s more “efficient” and authors need lots of people to buy lots of books. Both positions seem really out of touch.

What is “real-life” literary culture? Digital life is real life for lots of people, in lots of meaningful and important ways. There is no bookstore, independent or otherwise, in my neighborhood, or anywhere close to it. This is true for the vast majority of Americans. I engage, instead, in the literary culture found on this site, and on Goodreads, and countless other online venues. Russo also doesn’t consider the enormous boost that good Amazon reviews can give a first-time author. In his piece he asks people like Ann Patchett and Anita Shreve for their opinions on Amazon, and they are dutifully castigating. But Anita Shreve doesn’t have to worry about how her next book is going to sell, on Amazon or otherwise–she’s going to do just fine. I’d much rather hear from emerging writers, people for whom Amazon pre-orders dictate print runs. Their relationship with this dilemma must be much more complex.

Meanwhile, Manjoo’s argument that small bookstores are “inefficient” is as reductive as it is insulting. Buying a book is an act of intellectual and often emotional engagement that cannot be measured merely by the book’s purchase price. To point out, as he does with complete and completely annoying arrogance, that one can buy two books for the price of one on Amazon misses all of Russo’s points, and is unapologetically (and therefore very stupidly) a purely capitalist argument. Haven’t we learned where pure capitalism gets us? He also writes, “Amazon suggests books based on others you’ve read; your local store recommends what the employees like. If you don’t choose your movies based on what the guy at the box office recommends, why would you choose your books that way?” This is, to borrow Manjoo’s opening, totally boneheaded. Why wouldn’t you choose a movie based on what the guy at the box office recommends? He’s probably seen a thousand more movies than you, and he wants you to come back to his movie theater–he’s not going to recommend Saw XV when he knows you came in for tickets to Paris Je T’Aime the week before.

I could go on and counter lots of points made by both authors (and almost all of Manjoo’s, some of which are truly absurd–Amazon’s recommendations are often shitty; I have never had a “frustrating” experience shopping in an independent bookstore) but instead what I want to say is this: let’s all buy lots of books from lots of different retailers. Independent bookstores have their issues–I can’t always afford to shop at them, for one, though I do my best–and Amazon isn’t the devil incarnate, or rather, not incarnate. Their recent promotional move, because it’s occasioned such a backlash, and because it’s a slimy thing to do generally, certainly seems boneheaded, but they’ve also done a lot of good for book sales. Book sales, however, are not the bottom line. There is no bottom line here, and that’s what writers of complex fiction and poetry ought to recognize, and be talking about. Because continuing to have that conversation, which is more than a rant, is the only way we’re only going to save independent bookstores AND make books available to the masses as well.

(I’ve illustrated this post with four recent titles by emerging writers we’ve recently reviewed. The covers are linked to four different retailers, including Amazon. ‘Tis the season. Go forth, savvy book-buyers, and enjoy.)

The co-owners of the book shop, Terry McCoy and Bob Contant, are set to meet with the school’s officials Wednesday to discuss a rent reduction.

The last time the two sides met, in early 2010, Cooper Union was unwilling to budge on the rent, which has increased to $20,000 a month.

And the New York Times covers the deep sacrifices the owners have already made:

To cut expenses, both owners have halved their salaries and started collecting their Social Security benefits, rather than waiting until they turned 70, as planned. They laid off all eight of their part-time workers and reduced the five full-timers’ hours to 25 a week. Still, without a rent cut, they said, they could not survive. They have no interest in adding a coffee bar or moving to another neighborhood. Where would they go?

Want to help? Sign a petition asking Cooper Union to lower the rent for St. Mark’s Bookshop. The goal is 45,000 signatures, and the bookstore has already collected over 41,000–an indication of the love its patrons feel for it and the importance of the shop in the community.

Well, for new books, consider your local indie bookstore—you can find one near you on the IndieBound website. But there are also amazing used bookstores out there.

First, here’s a video on Brazenhead Books, a speakeasy-like (illegal) bookstore in NYC with a secret location—you can read more about them in the New Yorker, too. (Via.)

There’s No Place Like Here: Brazenhead Books from Etsy on Vimeo.

(By the way, owner Michael Seidenberg echoes MobyLives’ argument from yesterday: “People say, oh, did Barnes and Noble put you out [of business]? No, real estate put me out.” If you missed that post, read it in our blog archives.)

Next, here’s an amazing time-lapse video of Half Price Books filling a new bookstore (via).

And finally, here’s a video about Almost Banned in Harvard Square Booksellers, a used streetside bookstore—and Cambridge landmark—run by the homeless Ken O’Brien.

Borders may be a thing of the past, but does it mean there’s no market for books anymore? The MobyLives blog of Melville House does some pithy analysis:

Was this whole thing basically a fifteen-year-long advertisement for Amazon?

In a word, no. The story of Borders failure is, first and foremost, a real estate story. Simply, Borders gobbled up a lot of expensive square footage in the real estate boom of the nineties, as did Barnes and Noble, with a seemingly insatiable lust that curdled into craven predatoriness. [...] When the economy imploded in 2008, they were locked into severely overpriced space, out of dough, and with a bunch of dunderheads running the show.

It’s that simple. And that tragic — with Borders vaporized only after they put hundreds of independent bookstores out of business, we realize anew why there are laws against monopolies and predatory practices, and how little our government cares about enforcing them. Meanwhile Borders also contributed greatly to the fact that the culture is now mired in a devalued concept of the book, which is that it’s a thing that only matters if it sells hundreds of thousands of units.

That’s the real tragedy, according to MobyLives. (Be sure to read the full post here.)

photo via author's website

As Patchett’s been recounting in interviews on her book tour, a frame shop where she has been a customer since high school asked her if they should stock [her latest novel] “State of Wonder.” They made the offer because, sadly, Nashville’s bookstores – from big-box chains to the 30-year-old Davis-Kidd bookstore – have been shutting down.

“It’s very weird to have a book coming out without a bookstore,” Patchett told The Tennessean. “When Davis-Kidd closed, I thought, ‘I don’t want to live in a city without a bookstore.’ ” So according to Bookpage, Patchett says she’s teaming up with a Random House sales rep named Karen Hayes who had already been planning to launch an indie bookstore in Nashville. No word on how involved Patchett will be in day-to-day operations, but hearing her voice light up when she talks about the venture leaves no doubt that it’s a personal passion.

What do you think? Can authors—who presumably know books better than anyone else—help revive the indie bookstore?

And not only because I was there, Tuesday night in New York City, swooning a little to be in the presence of all those Europa-eans. Author Stacy Schiff described Europa’s Old Filth, by Jane Gardam, as “unforgivably perfect.” Two of the press’s translators, Alison Anderson and Ann Goldstein, spoke of their passion for their work: “If you really love the book, you make it your own,” Anderson said. The event was held at Housing Works Bookstore Café and co-sponsored by McNally Jackson Books—two of New York’s best beloved independent bookstores—and the circle of love was complete with Europa donating its books for sale to benefit Housing Works.

When the press started with its first book in 2005, the chilling, unforgettable The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante, there probably weren’t many people who thought this was a good idea: starting up a small, independent press devoted to bringing contemporary European fiction to the U.S.? And doing it in September 2005, when many other publishers, large and small, were flagging? Even publisher Kent Carroll agrees: “While publishing only European fiction was a very good cultural idea, it wasn’t a very good business idea,” he said at the event. So Europa quickly added English-language books, most of them from Europe.

Given that only 3% of the fiction published in the U.S. is in translation, the arrival—and success—of Europa is changing the fiction publishing landscape, while flinging open the windows to the contemporary literary world for those of us who, sadly, can read only in English.

Often, when looking for fiction, I start feeling kind of whiny: I just want someone to tell me a story—and tell it well. The first Europa book I read was that very first one, The Days of Abandonment, and from then on, I started looking for the little Europa insignia. Every time, the book delivered. I knew I’d found a press I could count on to do what publishers used to do: publish good reads and put an end to my whining.

Europa doesn’t have mega-selling blockbusters or billboards announcing the celebrities who will be starring in the movie. They just have well-written novels reflecting the variety of human experience, in tidy, elegant form. The books are designed in Italy and have an Italian, intentionally similar look, which has led 40 independent bookstores in the U.S. to create a “Europa” section in their stores.

Okay, I admit it: I am a thoroughly biased Europa-phile. Just see my review of Rebecca Connell’s The Art of Losing. Or see for yourself in Europa’s line of published and upcoming books.

Could I just say that I love what’s happening with indie bookstores and publishers? There is hope for the future of fiction, after all.

The sign is intended to remind patrons that buying books in indie bookstores—not just browsing there—is what keeps those stores alive. Explains the bookstore’s email newsletter:

The sign is in response to a growing trend at Harvard Book Store (and indeed at bookstores around the country). Folks come in, browse our shelves, get help from booksellers, attend our free events–but then make their purchases online at Amazon. If you like our store and enjoy our services, we’d ask you to think about the power of your purchases and their affect on our viability.

The sign is strikingly direct, but Harvard Bookstore might not have time to mince words. Another longtime local business, the stationery company Bob Slate, closed its doors last month after 80 years.

Do you ever browse books in your local store, then sneak home to purchase them online? Would a sign like this change your mind?

Attention, Chicago writers! Newcity Lit is a website devoted to the Windy City’s writing scene. Says the site:

We start with the core coverage found each week in Newcity magazine, Chicago’s only locally owned and operated cultural weekly, where we’ve been covering the turf for more than 22 years, and extend it with your input on this site. Please sign up and join the conversation!

Recent topics include the School of the Art Institute’s second annual Small Press and Comics Symposium, a writeup of Columbia College’s Story Week Festival of Writers, and a thoughtful review of Sarah Braunstein’s debut novel The Sweet Relief of Missing Children.

In addition to the online content, there’s a guide to Chicago-area indie bookstores and a calendar of local lit events. Every city needs a site like Newcity Lit. I wish I lived in Chicago—anyone want to launch a site for Boston?

Image credit: Flickr - Sidereal

Love author readings, but find you can’t get to them as often as you’d like? Or maybe you live in an area where author readings are infrequent. Authors on Tour – Live! is at your service. The website brings you podcasts of live author readings, including plenty of fiction, much of it by emerging writers—all for free. Recent podcasts include Siobhan Fallon reading from and discussing her debut collection You Know When the Men Are Gone, Chris Cleave on his novels Incendiary and Little Bee, and Benjamin Hale on his debut The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore. Plus, there’s lots of nonfiction and memoir, too. All are available to stream live or download.

Author on Tour – Live! is run by The Tattered Cover, an indie bookstore in Denver. Visit the Authors on Tour – Live! site, subscribe to the podcast for free via iTunes, follow Authors on Tour on Twitter, or visit the website and enter your email address to be notified of upcoming podcasts.

The Open Book

In Westhampton Beach, NY, the answer might be yes. Newcomer indie bookstore Books & Books, which opened in July, is giving established indie bookstore The Open Book some competition, and not everyone is happy. The New York Times reports:

Books & Books

Terry Lucas, a librarian and the owner of the Open Book, which she founded in 1999, said Books & Books is on a course to put her already struggling store out of business.

The dueling bookstores have caused a bit of summer drama in this quiet, laid-back town on the south fork of Long Island, where much of the commercial activity happens on Main Street, a tidy stretch lined with restaurants, real estate offices and boutiques.

“You’d think the thing that was going to kill the little town bookstore was the e-reader,” said Glenn Dorskind, a high school English teacher and friend of Ms. Lucas’s. “But the thing that’s killing it is another bookstore.”

I’m lucky enough to live in Boston, which can support a number of independent bookstores. But in a smaller town, the market might be too small for more than one. Should indie bookstores try and spread themselves around? Or should this be a case of free-market survival-of-the-fittest?