I'm still digging the novelty of Wi-Fi; for years, the act of working on the computer was confined to my apartment, so I feel strangely naked taking my show on the road. Around me, students are plugging numbers into hefty scientific calculators and thumbing through textbooks. I'm suddenly conscious of the dormant strings of bulbs mounted on the building opposite me, primed for the Plaza Lighting Ceremony this Thanksgiving. The air smells of coffee and cigarette smoke.
I need to get some reading done; maybe I'll polish off Elizabeth Bear's "Hammered." Yesterday I spent some time perusing Cory Doctorow's Craphound.com and downloading various free online books, including "Accelerando," which I have yet to see in hard-copy.
(Unfortunately, Barnes & Noble is the only bookstore in my part of town. I hate the selection, but the location is almost irresistibly convenient. In a futile act of protest, I've decided to buy all future books from Borders, where at least one can find my own book in stock and more-or-less correctly classified.)
7 comments:
WARNING: Book browsing may be hazardous to your pocketbook! In the Boston area it varies -- some of the B&N;'s are better than some of the Borders and vice versa. Depends a lot on location. The Nashua NH Borders near me used to be first-rate until their marketing dept. was suddenly one day seized with the realization (probably correct) that most of their customers are suburbanites with tons of KIDS. Now the kiddie corner takes up most of the store (not that I have anything against kids, having raised one myself, just that my literary tastes run in other directions). My strategy now is to browse B&N; and BUY Amazon.com. Seems to work pretty well.
I love book browsing, and B&N; certainly suffices. But when I get in a Borders -- whoa. No comparison. I've found some real gems there.
Ahh, you guys. You have nothing to complain about. I live almost 600 miles WSW of Anchorage, and cannot even reach ANY bookstore without spending over $1,000. Prob'ly just as well. About 4 years ago I went to B&N; and spent nearly $2,500. And would you belileve it? STILL haven't read some of them!
Man, I sure do miss used book stores. Spent nearly all day in some.
Well, that's what you get for living on an "Island Paradise". ;-)
Ken--
Get your ass over to http://www.mactonnies.com/bookreviews.html and start shopping! I get a cut! :-)
Oh, yeah, Burroughs. Long time, no see. I should do that again. Ever read any Charles Bukowski? One of the most powerful writers I can recall having read. Not what I'd call "nice", but he drags you in and doesn't let go. Well, at least he did to me.
Looka that. The guy's been dead over ten years, and I speak of him in the present tense. Maybe authors really CAN be immortal, insofar as they are not forgotten.
Keep writing, Mac. You said you wanted to be immortal, didn't you? Why not?
Me, I'm a stuffy old traditionalist. ;-}
To quote Woody Allen (from memory): "I don't want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve immortality by not dying."
Ever read any Charles Bukowski? One of the most powerful writers I can recall having read. Not what I'd call "nice", but he drags you in and doesn't let go. Well, at least he did to me.
Notes of a Dirty Old Man -- Definitely! (The poetry too, of course.) I once drove Stephen J. Gould home from a lecture and spent the entire hour rambling on and on about Charles Bukowski (or "'Buke,' rhymes with 'puke'" as he liked to put it). I think I bored the crap out of poor Stephen but, on the other hand, he was pretty talked out so what was I to do, drive in silence? So I guess I can claim to have introduced one of the great minds of the 20th century to another G.M. of the 2k C.
God, ken, don't think I could take that lack of proximity from bookstores, although I'll bet the quiet and solitude when you want them make up for a lot. At this point I'd just about be happy to trade in access to bookstores for that.