In Defense of Cranky Bookstore Owners

Came across this article recently that had been reposted in a trade blog. It's about a fellow named Jim Toole, who runs a store called Capitol Hill Books in our nation's capitol. Jim is a cranky guy. Here is a short example of his retail philosophy:

"And then, there are the rules of the store. First, you can only get in when it is open. Second, no cell phones. This is a book store and not a phone booth. Third, there are words and phrases that you can’t use in my store: like, oh my God, neat, sweet, have a good one, that’s a good question, totally, whatever, perfect, Kindle or Amazon. These words give me brain damage. I’m serious. When people use them in here, I tell them to get a thesaurus and stop being so mentally lame."

Remember old Bruno at Persian Aub Zam Zam? People reveled in his crankiness (until they fell victim to it themselves, in some cases), though you've got to admit it's not bad being able to actually sit at one of the tables if the bar is full. I used to visit a bookstore down in Pasadena called something like The Oriental Book Company. The guy kept most of his lights turned off, and if you wanted to see a particular section, he would huff in frustration that he had to go through the trouble of turning the lights on. That guy was a crank. You might not like shopping at his store, but there was no doubt that it was his store. In this world of Bed Bath & Beyond blandness, a retail approach like that can be....refreshing.

A note of caution: this is a defense of cranky owners, not staffers. I find cranky staffers a lot less romanticizable. In fact, I almost couldn't watch the movie High Fidelity after Jack Black abused that customer for wanting, what was it, Paul Simon? My retail owner's hackles were raised.

At Green Apple, we place a high value on hiring people who are nice, people who are passionate about books and passionate about sharing them with our customers. We're not going to start writing down arbitrary "store rules." But Green Apple does have a store personality- a bit disheveled, little rough around the edges. When you walk in here, you know you're not in Barnes & Noble. But people seem to like us, check out our Yelp reviews.

Some links for a Friday night

Paul Madonna's GAB postcard

We don't often post series of links on the Green Apple Core, but I don't often work Friday nights and right now I'm covering a co-worker's break in the Annex (to clarify: the Annex is home to both new and used fiction, science fiction, and mysteries; new and used graphic novels; a display of literature in translation; a new-ish display of Staff Picks; books (new and used) on music, theater, film (including television), magazines; and CDs, LPs, and DVDs) and want to share with you a few bookish things around the internet and elsewhere that have caught my attention.

• Do you recognize the name Gordon Lish? Lish was a(n in)famous editor at Knopf during the 1970s and 80s, the man responsible, some say, for creating (by severe and creative editing) Raymond Carver's signature style. Besides introducing to the American reading public such writers as Cynthia Ozick, Amy Hempel, and Barry Hannah, Lish also wrote fiction himself, the shorter pieces of which are included in O/R Books recent Collected Fictions (which despite not being on our website is on our shelves). The first installment of Carla Blumenkranz's profile of Lish is included in the latest issue of N+1.
• Also of note from the new N+1 is Richard Beck's appraisal of indie music website/cultural taste-maker/love-to-hate-'em Pitchfork.
• Writer Ted Gioia (who's got a mustache to die for) just launched a new website dedicated to what he calls The Postmodern Mystery Reading List. Included on the list are such GAB favorites Thomas Bernhard, Jonathan Lethem, and Patricia Highsmith. Worth a glance, an argument, an addendum.
  
• And finally, because it's just about time for me to head on back to the main store, please read Charles Simic's essay on the Lost Art of Postcard Writing and remember: we sell postcards.

Infinite Jest and its Offspring

I read an article in the New York Times the other day about Michael Schur, co-creator of the television series Parks & Recreation directing a music video for the band The Decemberists based on a passage from Infinite Jest involving the fictional game, Eschaton. Thinking the idea was promising I sought it out, and Mike/everyone in The Decemberists, I'm sorry, but I wasn't feeling it. Why couldn't you have made it as fun to watch and listen to as it was to read? Nice try? I suppose the track record hasn't been to good for book to film adaptations. I'm not sure why I bothered to get my hopes up. Oh well.

Schur made an attempt, the times wrote about his work and I was incensed enough to write about his work, and all press is good press, right? Now I've got to pondering though, what is a good book to film adaptation? I liked the 1965 version of A High Wind in Jamaica despite certain qualities severely lacking, but what else is there? Fight Club? ...I'm kidding about that. I hardly have the patience for movies, so you tell me.

***

Oh, by the way, pictured up at the top of this post is a piece of Infinite Jest inspired art that I do like by Cody Hoyt. It was part of a series done by a small collection of artists for the Kitsune Noir Poster Club back in 2009. You should check it out if you've never heard of it. It's pretty neat.

Summer (reading) at last!

Well, it had to happen. . .today is August 23rd, and we finally have a day of sunshine in the Inner Richmond. So, with only 7 days left in the month I think it's a fine time to make another pitch for the August book of the month: The Magician King by Lev Grossmann. But don't just take my word for it:

Cory Doctorow of BoingBoing : The Magician King is at once an existential exercise that angrily shakes escapism by its shoulders and demands that life have a purpose, and a story about extraordinary deeds, heroism, magic and love -- all the stuff that makes escapism go. (Full Review Here)

Alexander Chee of NPR : ...a spellbinding stereograph, a literary adventure novel that is also about privilege, power and the limits of being human. The Magician King is a triumphant sequel, surpassing, I think, the original. (Full Review Here)

Kevin Hunsanger of Green Apple Books: Ok, so this is when the ‘happily ever after’ part is supposed to kick-in, right? Well, if you know Fillroy, and the magicians that populate this enchanted land, then you already know that it just isn’t going to be that easy. . .(Full Review Here)

Don't forget - All of our Book of the Month selections come with a money back guarantee.

Now go and enjoy this fabulous weather while it lasts!

Justice now! Exempt Green Apple Books from Sales Tax

Sign HERE today! Spread the word!

photo by Robin Allen

Here's the press release Green Apple Books issued today. Media inquiries welcome.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Pete Mulvihill – pete@greenapplebooks.com | (415) 387-2272

Green Apple Books to petition state government to become exempt from sales tax

San Francisco, CA (August 16, 2011)—In a move spurred by Amazon.com’s campaign to collect 500,000-plus signatures in an effort to overturn California’s Sales Tax Fairness law via referendum, Green Apple Books owners Pete Mulvihill, Kevin Ryan, and Kevin Hunsanger have decided that they, too, will take a step toward not collecting sales tax. “We, too, are fed up with government providing infrastructure, security, and education” says Pete Mulvihill. “Enough is enough.”

Co-owner Kevin Ryan further argues that while Green Apple Books is a long-established presence in San Francisco that has always collected sales tax, there are more compelling reasons for the store to discontinue the practice. “Sure, the sales tax on books purchased at our store contributes to a better quality of life for all Californians, including social services for the elderly and disabled, but collecting sales tax kind of feels like overkill. We do enough for the community anyway,” says Ryan.

“I like Amazon’s angle here, and I think ALL indie stores should be exempt,” adds co-owner Kevin Hunsanger.

Additionally, Green Apple’s ownership provides this list of talking points:

• More than two-thirds of Green Apple’s staff do not have children and therefore should not really contribute tax money to public education;
• Most of the staff members do not own cars, so maintaining good roads isn’t that important. They could just walk;
• Statistics suggest that booksellers are 36% less likely to use emergency services than antiques dealers;
• Although many of the staff at Green Apple do in fact enjoy state and local parks, they sort of think someone other than the bookstore’s customers should pay to maintain them;

On Saturday, August 20, 2011, co-owner Kevin Ryan will hit the streets in an effort to collect enough signatures to put this issue into the hands of voters.

LOCALS

I rang up Daniel Handler and Mike Giant today, in that order. It's nice to see the local talent out and about and supporting us. I suppose I am trying to pay it forward, or pay it back or something. Blogging about this is the 'retweeting' of early aughts, I guess. Note that Handler has a new book coming out soon. I would promote Giant's too if I was aware of such a thing, so his previous will have to suffice.

Back to School (yes, already)

Sunshine on Day One at Sunset Elementary!

Public schools have started up in San Francisco already.

My twins are on Day Two of kindergarten, and all is well so far. They were pretty beat after day one yesterday, and we spent a lot of time reading picture books at day's end. Even though we've largely moved on to longer chapter books (Matilda by Roald Dahl was a big hit this summer), they seemed to want to take it easy with some picture books. I think they somehow yearned to reconnect with their old picture books (and cuddly home rituals).

If you feel like treating your back-to-schooler with a new book, we have a nice display in the kids section right now. Good luck, kids and parents, in the new school year.