> so you would prefer that the folks that live in this gross
> upperclass suburb where i work never see goodman's book at
> all? i was pleasantly surprised to see it in the B&N in the
> mall here a month or so ago when i was last there. most of
> the kids around here never get down to houston and if they
> did, they probably will be in montrose or richmond partying
> (or beating up fags), not buying books.
Geez Budge, you sound like you're trapped in the bowels of Montgomery County, a keen location exampling the polarization of this country, with the varying degree of "haves" in master-planned communities of The Woodlands and surrounding clones, where everyone knows their place in that socio-economic Stepford and then the trailer park "have nots" in places like New Caney, where the Klan still rode 10 years ago and still rumbles on occasion, today. Talk about culture gaps.
Regardless of your location, I concur. I work downtown, but I live almost to Katy on the far western edge, and the B&N is a lifeline for both open and stealth progressives, counterbalancing the warp hole of limitations and negativity called Wal-mart (which keeps the "Left Behind" crowd satiated). I was exposed to "Bitch" magazine via browsing at B&N, and they were my source until I finally subbed, because B&N kept selling out. Same with the Advocate, which also sells out, week after week, or any number of other progressive mags and books. Even better, staff has been great at researching and ordering books, too, but anystore is only as good as it's staff with this stuff.
> one is a literary-ish store near rice u
> (good shop, but politically very tame), and the other is
> murder by the book which specializes in mysteries. which of
> these do you think would carry goodman's book? but kids go
> to the mall all the time...
Teens out here are *starving* for information, radical ideas and something different. I'd rather see the posing Goth with java in one hand, unlit Sobranie stuck hanging on their lip, perusing the philosphy section and at least getting the names and titles in their heads at a B&N - exposure! the first step! - than have nothing at all.
The feminist and gay bookstores here used to be a great source for indie, progressive and radical lit and policy, but they are gone. Some of the gay bookstores were able to keep in stock excellent progressive and radical titles and still turn a profit by running adult video rentals in the back, books and bumperstickers in the front, until copyright laws and violations thereof caught some off guard. An indie feminist/gay bookstore stayed alive for awhile by feeding into the Rice U. population's needs, but that store closed when one of the owners entered politics.
As such, we don't have the community bookstore that Chuck describes, and yes, I wish we did. It's a bitch having to drive to Austin for that, but boycotting and pissin' and moanin' about B&N doesn't get us there, either.
- Deborah
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" How come people always flip and think they're Jesus? Why not Buddha? Particularly in America, where more people resemble Buddha than Jesus. 'Ah'm BUDDHA!' 'You're Bubba!' 'Ah'm Buddha now..All I gotta do is change 3 letters on ma belt...' " - Bill Hicks