This is the first of a series of guest posts on Book Patrol by Lynn Wienck of The Chisholm Trail Bookstore in Duncan, Oklahoma. ****************Book Contempt"Is the traditional book, with the bound, printed pages and covers, held in contempt?" I asked myself that very question based on recent and expanding book evolution in three regions: use, license, and library access.I like books for themselves finding sufficient beauty in printed words, illustrations, and bindings. Atmosphere, mystery, and excitement are found among the simple black-and-white lines of text. Why then are books utilized to generate art, furniture, lamps, and clocks? The art...
Mary Oliver: The Poet as Rock Star
The last time 71 year old Pulitzer Prize winning poet Mary Oliver visited Seattle was 2005. She made quite a splash by selling out the 900 seat Town Hall in a relatively short amount of time. The University of Washington Bookstore sold 600 copies of her books at that event making it the second most profitable reading of the year for them.This past Monday night Oliver returned to Seattle and the community response was one for the literary record books.What happened:-it was the fastest sellout in the 20 year history of the venerable Seattle Arts & Lectures series-the demand was...
Book 2.0
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Tidbits from the LA Times Piece "A dismal year for books?"
Scott Timberg has the customary 'look back at 2007 piece in the Los Angeles Times. The tag line is "Publishing has become a high-stakes game amid store closings, declines in sales, profits, book review sections -- even literacy.""The delivery of the content of a book in different forms and formats is making people nervous...So we're trying to publish in a lot of different formats because we don't know where the readers are going to be. A lot of us in the publishing industry started out when we still used carbon paper and manual typewriters.""The uncertainty around technological change is responsible...
The City of Dreaming Books
Walter Moers. The City of Dreaming Books. Woodstock, New York: The Overlook Press, 2007. First American Edition. 456 pp. Maroon spine over yellow boards. Illustrated throughout by the author.Walter a biblio-fantasy of the highest order.