In Defense of the Bookstore

I know what you’re thinking. A defense of the bookstore? How 20^th century. You’re thinking to yourself: are the romantics among us still doing that – running around, with moleskines in hand and square glasses on the tips of their noses, decrying the end of the bookstore and (naturally coupled with such a protest) the death of The Book?

Well, no. This is not one of those defenses, but maybe in the interest of full disclosure, you should know that, yes, I am one of those book-crazed romantics. I am quite important and do have many leather-bound books. But too much of me – it’s about the bookstores.

A defense, I’m told by my friends who were hard-working enough (read: impervious to debt and a life full of doing other people’s work) to go to law school, is best delivered in bullet-point form. And my grad school friends (particularly the one in the Psych program who can no longer sleep at night) have agreed that, given the short attention spans of today’s internet-addicted readers, this is the best approach. So, here goes my list:

1. Eyesight. Oh, you have a Nook? That’s nice. I call it a computer. Have fun spending all night reading that awesome thriller and straining your eyeballs. Studies are ambivalent on whether or not e-readers cause eye problems; I’m not. If you want to add to the 10+ hours you already spend staring at a computer all day, go ahead and be my guest. But, um, I’ll keep my eyes glued to paper and ink thank you.

2. Window Shopping. Oh, you’re not an e-reader reader and you read real, paper books? Great, but where are you getting those paper books? Please don’t say you’re buying them online. If so, reference point 1 – the eyesight thing (sure you’re not reading the book on a screen, but you’re still purchasing it from a screen – it all adds up, people). But more important than the eyesight thing is this: window shopping. That’s right, window shopping. Bookstores are the only place you can roll into with no idea of what you might like to read and you can walk out with a boatload of books. They prop up the bestsellers in the front and highlight the lesser-known, literary novelties in the back. Only in a brick and mortar bookstore can you find that random book on pooping or that dystopian novel about squirrels.

3. Life and Theft. This one’s for the e-reader die-hards. Ever heard of someone getting roughed up for a book they purchased at a bookstore? Yeah, me neither. Ever heard of someone getting roughed up for an iPod, a CD player, a computer or any other electronic device? Yeah, me too.

4. Book Readings. You’ve been to one. You know, when authors come to a little indie bookstore in their cardigans and thick glasses and read the first chapter of their new novel? Yeah, well that only happens in bookstores. Sure you can watch your favorite author do a reading on Youtube, but nothing beats that in-person contact. Ask Michelle Bachmann.

5. The Only Place to Fall Literarily in Love. It happened in Notting Hill and it happened in Dan in Real Life. That’s all the evidence I need. The bookstore is one of the last bastions for love. Literarily, the bookstore is the only place you can fall in love with one of those really smart types who will probably end up making a lot of money one day.

In summary: Do you like your personal property? Do you want to fall in love? Are your eyes precious to you? Have you ever wanted to meet your favorite author? Is shopping your thing, girlfriend? Then you need to go to support your local bookstore.

Yours truly,

Truth to Power

A video response from our Sarah Jessica Johnson: