In Praise Of Good Bookstores

I read In Praise of Good Bookstores (2022) by Jeff Deutsch, an attempt to account for the unaccountable, the value that books and bookstores deliver us beyond their monetary value.

He makes the case that books are far underpriced considering the value they bring compared to other commodities such as food. Food is consumed quickly and forgotten, but books take days to read and the impact they have on our lives can be permanent.

“The most important things in the world seem impossible to measure. We have as yet, Carlyle said, no scale to measure admiration by. And we have as yet no scale for measuring meaning, knowledge, hope, pleasure, reverence, curiosity, beauty, kindness, awe, justice, wisdom, and love.” – In Praise of Good Bookstores, page 100

He also shares my basic approach to life, believing that productivity should serve pleasure, rather than exist as an end in itself. Pleasure is not frivolous, and there is no greater pleasure than learning.

“I couldn’t fathom the notion that one strove to become educated rather than learned, or that one might study in order to make a living, rather than to learn, continually, an endeavor essential to living a more meaningful life. What, after all, was the point of making a living if not to build community and create deeper understanding – to come home for dinner and then learn with one’s chavrusa?” – In Praise of Good Bookstores, page 12

He also makes the case that curiosity is a better guide to practical knowledge than practicality. If we only look in the obvious places for the knowledge we seek, we will miss out on the treasures hidden elsewhere.

Books are unique and priceless. Their natural price is infinite and would do better as gifts than salable goods. Gifts create a bond with the gift giver, thus creating community. The physical spaces of bookstores provide both solitude and community. Deutsch is not a fan of Amazon.

Good bookstores are arranged to slow down time, create lasting memories, aid browsing, and foster discovery of related titles. Good book sellers collect books that reinforce each other and aid discovery. Browsing spaces should be jumbled, reflecting the nature of knowledge.

“While an algorithm might suggest a book that we are likely to enjoy based upon who we’ve been, or what an advertiser might want us to think we want, nothing can replace the work of browsing to help us discover who we are or who we might become.” – In Praise of Good Bookstores, page 32-33

So why are bookstores disappearing? Part of the problem is that there are too many products. In fact, there are far more titles than any one person could ever read in many lifetimes. These products take up shelf space that could be held by other books they are in competition with. It is practically impossible to carry all the classics that the public expects, all of the latest releases the public expects, and other books besides.

The other problem is that Amazon does loss leading. It sells books at breakeven prices or less to lure in customers who will then spend more on other items. Brick-and-mortar stores can’t compete.

Overall, the book was decent, though it was more poetic than my taste, and near the end it began rambling about things I didn’t understand, such as “intercalculated time,” books “ripening” over 280 days, and why “now, more than ever” is somehow a bad phrase to use.

The book got me thinking about what I look for in a bookstore. I definitely prefer paper to webpages. They feel more natural, are more intuitive to use, and I can read excerpts at random instead of where the author or seller chooses. I’m pretty good at picking titles I will like and I have always enjoyed browsing. In fact, I might enjoy it more than the actual reading.

Bookstores have a certain atmosphere that I miss. They are so full of possibility. Amazon is full of possibility too, but it doesn’t surround me, instead content to remain on my computer screen. It is a provider of products only, not a place to experience, and certainly no place to meet those with similar interests.

Amazon is too big for new authors to stand out against the background of millions, but smaller stores, specializing in specific genres or specific geographical locations, can give authors some small visibility rather than none at all. I would rather have twenty devoted fans who read my every word than twenty million who give me little more than a cursory glance. It’s not about the money – except that without book income, I will need a job that takes away all my time, energy, and ability to read and write just to stay alive. I am literally decades behind on both my reading list and my writing list right now. It’s incredibly frustrating.

Oddly, many small bookstores I have approached tell me that they only stock books from established authors, and that thirty miles away is too far to be considered a “local” author, even if they are the only bookstore within thirty miles!

Coffee shops seem to be disappearing, too. I have long wanted to meet people for educated discussions in coffee shops, but haven’t had the time or the friends (with time). I prefer the atmosphere of the coffee shop to write in, too. Home is too noisy and distracting to write sometimes, and sometimes I just need a change of scenery, yet what I believed to be a permanent industry has been taken from me before I truly had a chance to take advantage of it.

I hope somebody finds a way to keep the old-style bookshops (and coffee shops) profitable, and they do it without pricing the books higher than I can afford (I can barely afford them now).

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