Steeping in Evita corpse fixation right now, A Novel Bookstore, the appealing book about books possibility put forth this week by Tom of A Common Reader really caught my interest. A bookstore that only stocks "good books" (would that include a copy of the David Hume essay/dissertation "Of the Standard of Taste?"). A mystery. A look into bookish elitism. Tom does warn of some of the failings of the book but like him, I think I can still enjoy it. As an in-between book. It is about books, right?
Do the members of the book selection committee for the store invite extreme reaction? Well, that depends on your viewpoint here, how you view this statement from one of the judges.
"Our concept is radical. It is a revolution in cultural behavior. Everybody nowadays agrees that too many uninteresting books are published. We think this phenomenon is like a pollution of the mind, and we are simply saying: enough. Let us refuse to see our taste polluted. Let's refresh the air. Let's breathe. We think we have a good chance of finding followers."
Would you be a follower?
Update: This has prompted some really interesting conversation so I contacted Europa this morning about the one point of confusion for some - real or not? Was pleased to receive this direct response from publisher Kent Carroll:
"The store, like the web site, seems real because the idea of a novel bookstore is so authentically appealing. It is also the reason we published the book. It touches on why we began this enterprise, Europa Editions."
When I started thinking about it a bit more, my favorite bookstore is already a little like this. Most independents have limited space and are unlikely to stock merchandise that does sync with their individual missions. Divorced from the theme of elitism, there is something "authentically appealing" about such a bookstore, a wonderland for bookish sorts.
