Monopoly Bookstore Chains and Left Wing Magazines.

Nathan Newman nathan.newman at yale.edu
Thu Oct 22 16:36:31 PDT 1998


-----Original Message----- From: alexlocascio at juno.com <alexlocascio at juno.com> To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com <lbo-talk at lists.panix.com>

-I guess Borders and Barnes & Noble differ from store to store. In my -neck of the woods, they're the only places that stock the "left" press. -Before I subscribed, I used to pick up NLR at Borders, which carries it -regularly. Ditto MR, CAQ, The Nation, In These Times, The Baffler, etc.

I have to agree with this. In both Oakland and New Haven, Barnes & Noble have very good ranges of left magazines. Just their capacity for carrying so many magazines gives the odd left journal a better chance of making it on the shelves. As someone who grew up in a true suburban wasteland where local bookstores had nothing more radical than Readers Digest, I really can't bemoan the rise of the chains. For every cool independent bookstore they undermine in urban centers, the megastore chains are bringing a whole new range of thought and ideas to suburban areas previously services largely by "gift book" stores and Waldenbook chains (a true monstrosity).

--Nathan



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