Friday, March 24, 2006
Booksellers who blog
I've stumbled across a few more, the first via Grumpy Old Bookman, British bookseller The Bedside Crow, and here's a sample:
"I knew nothing but the absolute joy of my stock; moted sunlight fading hardbacks in the window, of dumpbins of Leighton and Ludlum, of Wicked Willie, of Provence was what the punter saw; Delia bought our dinners, our gread and gutter (sic??) was the eighties bulge in print, retail expense accounts. But beneath the dust and filthy black fingernails, papercuts and invoice shortages, our shop soiled souls ached for literature."
I spent part of the late 80s working in a new-book store, and this sums up how I felt back then. It was all worth it, the drudgery, to be near good books. It still is, come to think of it.
The second via Bookfinder: the Bibliophile Bullpen. I like this post in particular, by guest blogger Andy Laties, about his book Rebel Bookseller: How to Improvise Your Own Indie Store and Beat Back the Chains (from Vox Pop, quoted here in part):
"As authors once had to fight to be paid for their writing, today independent booksellers and indie publishers are fighting to be paid for our own efforts. No chain-store systemized attack on indie stores--with hourly-wages for those would-be indie booksellers forced by default into chains' employment--can long endure. Wage slavery will lead to Rebellion; Masters of Capital, we'll see you in hell."
I have yet to get a copy of this book, but it's now officially on my internal and ever-growing want list. The Bullpen also has a good recent post on the ubiquitous usefulness of bone folders. Handy little things, for sure. Also, sometime soon I'll delve into their blogroll, which looks to have many links worth clicking.
"I knew nothing but the absolute joy of my stock; moted sunlight fading hardbacks in the window, of dumpbins of Leighton and Ludlum, of Wicked Willie, of Provence was what the punter saw; Delia bought our dinners, our gread and gutter (sic??) was the eighties bulge in print, retail expense accounts. But beneath the dust and filthy black fingernails, papercuts and invoice shortages, our shop soiled souls ached for literature."
I spent part of the late 80s working in a new-book store, and this sums up how I felt back then. It was all worth it, the drudgery, to be near good books. It still is, come to think of it.
The second via Bookfinder: the Bibliophile Bullpen. I like this post in particular, by guest blogger Andy Laties, about his book Rebel Bookseller: How to Improvise Your Own Indie Store and Beat Back the Chains (from Vox Pop, quoted here in part):
"As authors once had to fight to be paid for their writing, today independent booksellers and indie publishers are fighting to be paid for our own efforts. No chain-store systemized attack on indie stores--with hourly-wages for those would-be indie booksellers forced by default into chains' employment--can long endure. Wage slavery will lead to Rebellion; Masters of Capital, we'll see you in hell."
I have yet to get a copy of this book, but it's now officially on my internal and ever-growing want list. The Bullpen also has a good recent post on the ubiquitous usefulness of bone folders. Handy little things, for sure. Also, sometime soon I'll delve into their blogroll, which looks to have many links worth clicking.
