Thursday, July 29, 2004
Recently, Angelo and I caught ourselves longingly looking at a glossy book cover of a woman comfortably browsing in a beautifully lit, organized, yet dishevelled book store. The lighting of the picture is fabulous, and most likely posed, but it got us thinking about why we were so drawn to her. Is it the picture? Or is it the moment within the picture that was captured?
The book store looks accomplished, inviting hours of independent navigating. It looks like a book store in the city, a city like New York. New York would be where we would like to be perusing a book store, right? Knowing New York city, the people in this sort of book store would be intelligently educated (delete consumeristic, please), right?
Would it be accurate to say that these true sorts of book store experiences only exist in the city? If so, what does that mean about the suburbs? Is there no demand for stellar book store experiences in the suburban culture? Sure, there is a book store, if you want to call it that, named Chapters, in Langely - a suburb.
For me, a true book store experience does not include the step of asking a customer service representative whether or not they can order in the book I'm looking for. The books should be a reflection of local, Canadian, and international authors. The books should be available, even if they are not considered popular (or as I like to refer to them: Blockbusters).
I went in search of a great book and/or magazine and found myself in the "Does Your Mother Know?" magazine pit. It's not the prettiest place on W. 4th, but it is the best selection of magazines that I have found since our return from India. The two other magazine huts we loved changed since we moved. The Robson and Thurlow mag stand became a $15 or under store. The Lower Robson mag stand burned down. I wonder if the bum that still hangs out in front of the Lower Robson location, despite it's pitted remains, feels the same way.
The book store looks accomplished, inviting hours of independent navigating. It looks like a book store in the city, a city like New York. New York would be where we would like to be perusing a book store, right? Knowing New York city, the people in this sort of book store would be intelligently educated (delete consumeristic, please), right?
Would it be accurate to say that these true sorts of book store experiences only exist in the city? If so, what does that mean about the suburbs? Is there no demand for stellar book store experiences in the suburban culture? Sure, there is a book store, if you want to call it that, named Chapters, in Langely - a suburb.
For me, a true book store experience does not include the step of asking a customer service representative whether or not they can order in the book I'm looking for. The books should be a reflection of local, Canadian, and international authors. The books should be available, even if they are not considered popular (or as I like to refer to them: Blockbusters).
I went in search of a great book and/or magazine and found myself in the "Does Your Mother Know?" magazine pit. It's not the prettiest place on W. 4th, but it is the best selection of magazines that I have found since our return from India. The two other magazine huts we loved changed since we moved. The Robson and Thurlow mag stand became a $15 or under store. The Lower Robson mag stand burned down. I wonder if the bum that still hangs out in front of the Lower Robson location, despite it's pitted remains, feels the same way.
