By Geo Ong
Ooh, independent bookstores! I should buy one of those on Amazon!
—Stephen Colbert, The Colbert Report, 20 February 2012
Stephen Colbert, how we’ve missed you. While the other Urchins and I wish you and your family much love, we are glad you’re back on television, reclaiming that special seat in our satiric little hearts.
Last night’s guest on The Colbert Report was the PEN/Faulkner Award-winning Ann Patchett, author of Bel Canto, Run, and her latest, State of Wonder. Perhaps even more impressive is the most recent addition to her CV, co-owner of the independent bookstore, Parnassus Books, in Nashville, Tennessee, which celebrated its grand opening not too long ago on 19 November 2011.
Patchett's independent bookstore, Parnassus Books, in Nashville, TN.
After grilling Patchett on the benefits of shopping independent over online, Colbert asked a question I’ve never heard an author answer. ‘You’re an author, and you’re trash-talking all these online people, aren’t you afraid they’re not gonna sell your book?’ And while Patchett answered modestly, claiming that she wasn’t a big-enough name for Amazon to take notice, her attitude seemed pretty clear to me. Yes, she’s an author, but she’s also a bookstore owner. I would assume that she has been fighting for independent bookstores for many years before the opening of Parnassus Books, but now that she is an owner, she has re-entered the fight in a big and important way. Speaking as an independent bookseller, I’m glad to have her on our side.
Watch the full interview on The Colbert Report‘s official website. It’s entertaining, funny, and it closes with Patchett giving Colbert an offer he perhaps won’t be able to refuse.
Oh dear. I always feel such horrid guilt when this topic comes up. Cuz it’s all abut the $. I don’t have much but want more books. But if I save myself some $ then the most deserved author gets less $. My local gas station makes more $ from the pretzels and drinks I buy than from the gas. Even if a bookseller makes $ from a coffee spot to offset costs, that would not help the author even if the bookstore was able to compete evenly with online sellers. Conundrum. So I tried audio books on mobile device and digital books. More portable, maybe more eco-ish, but they don’t feel and smell the same. So, Geo, help! BTW ever get to read or see movie of 84 Charing Cross Road yet?
Great interview on Colbert – Here’s to the return of the Independents!