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November 26, 2004
Barnes and Noble cooking the books?
Power Line, of course, beats me to the punch on this news flash: Wow, bookstores sure are different since the election!
I had the exact same experience described in the above link; the difference in Brooklyn was startling and radical. For years, literally years, the encroachment of anti-Bush books had been progressing. Eventually, I stopped going to bookstores altogether. I used to love browsing the neighborhood Barnes & Noble, but I had to give it up; it started to feel like crawling through no-man's land, blasted from all sides. Instead, I gave a couple thousand dollars' worth of business to Amazon.
It's hard to describe the hostile, oppressive feeling of entering a bookstore where all the stacks, displays, and promotions blare at you: Bush lied! — America sucks! — 'Terrorist' attack? We deserved it! — You're a bigot unless you believe as we do! — The election was stolen! — Where are the wings? — Bush won't rest until everyone is dead and the earth is a barren wasteland!, etc. But try finding, say, a Hugh Hewitt book, and you'll need spelunking equipment and a headlamp to chip through the layers of "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them" and "Dude, Where's My Country?"
All along, I've had a lot of questions about this phenomenon.
- Are these displays dictated from headquarters or are they left to the discretion of the local managers?
- Is the political weighting of the displays dictated by local factors — say, local voting patterns? (That's the charitable interpretation.) Or is it dictated by someone's political leanings, either at the local or national level?
The easy way to get an honest answer to this question would be to see what's on display in red cities in red states. I'd like to believe that the jamming of liberal books down customers' throats is purely a matter of demographics; after all, you wouldn't have a huge display of Yankees books in Boston, would you?
But I have that little muttering, paranoid voice in my head that tells me there may be more than strictly commercial considerations here. Anyone out there know the real score?
Anyway, it's all different now. The anti-Bush books have vanished, and not a trace of the looming displays remains. I can shop in a real-live bookstore again without feeling I'm on enemy turf. And I can walk back home swinging my bag of new books jauntily to the melodious sound of the forlorn flapping of "We The People SAY NO To The Bush Agenda" rainbow banners against the facades of million-dollar houses.
What you mean "we," kemo sabe?
Posted by EtherPundit at November 26, 2004 06:35 PM Category: Books , Media
Comments
I don't belive it is merely a matter of 'local' discretion.
I live in Anchorage, Alaska. Traditionally, historically, and always a 'red' state. We do, after all, have ANWR.
I have mentioned this phenomenon several times to friends of mine, my girlfriend, family, etc. asking if they thought this was an odd circumstance. We have Barnes and Nobles as well as Border's here, and I've long been concerned about the lack of 'right-thinking' books and materials at these stores. All too easy is it to find books on fringe philosophy, esoteric religions, and extreme ideologues; but try to pre-order 'Stolen Honor' and you're told it'll be a 3 month wait... AFTER it's been released. Same with Anne Coulter's book 'How To Talk to a Liberal...'
Now, it may just be that the reason these other 'books' are so easily come by is that no one buys them and instead buys the very books I'm also looking for, and as no one buys the other books, they're always on display. I fail to believe this is the case as this is a common occurance. Been happening for years, so no, I don't 'buy' that.
It would certainly be interesting to find out more about whether or not this a 'local' or 'national' precept for bookstores.
BTW, I followed here from KorlaPundit, and hence added you to my 'Fav' list. Thanks for the good writing!!
Ronin
Posted by: AkRonin at November 27, 2004 05:22 AM
Thanks for the kind words, AkRonin. Your suggestion that they might theoretically be selling out of conservative books faster is interesting. Of course, you're right -- it's implausible that this would go on for years, since their business depends on predicting purchase patterns and keeping popular books in stock.
The fact that someone in Alaska is noticing the same phenomenon as someone in the heart of liberal Brooklyn does seem to suggest a national policy...
Posted by: EtherPundit at November 27, 2004 08:25 AM