July 05, 2005

Litblog Co-op Minority Report

 

I haven’t been too vocal about the Litblog Co-op lately, but that’s mostly because of my many other projects. Anyhow, the minority report is up now, which if we were the Supreme Court would be the dissenting opinion (and I’m not going to say who the Sandra Day O’Connor is in our group).

The idea behind posting a dissenting opinion is that naturally not everyone in this diverse group of litbloggers is going to absolutely agree on the “best” selection out of those nominated and everyone should have a voice. This is interesting mostly because it stretches the concept beyond just promoting good books and gets into what is good and why one book might be better than another. In my opinion, it’s all goodness. Here’s an excerpt from the Minority Opinion:


Although we do not at all object to the consideration of genre fiction for the LBC selection, we do believe that in this case the book teetered awkwardly between “genre fiction” and “literary fiction” without ever really doing justice to the possibilities of either mode. Thus, for example, coincidences that strain credibility abound in this book, but since it is ostensibly a “mystery” such devices are presumably considered to be acceptable—which ultimately seems only a condescending take on the conventions of mystery/detective fiction. On the other hand, Atkinson makes an effort to elevate the conventions of mystery fiction to a higher plane, to use them as a way to explore such things as isolation, loss, missed connections, class issues, and random violence, but the novel never really reaches a point where the writing or approach feels fresh enough to justify the exercise.

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"Litblog Co-op Minority Report" was posted July 05, 2005 and written by Bud Parr.

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Recent Comments

Hi Bud,

This is so bittersweet to read. I wish U of Penn more than luck in tackling the collection and making an exhibit for the books. I can’t wait to see the store again. I used to work at Gotham (all too) briefly, from the summer of 2001 to the fall of 2002 when I was 19 and in school for illustration. The building, the books, and especially the people (I had amazing co-workers, plus some really lovely customers) have a special place in my heart. I’m was hoping the link would mention Andreas (Andy) Brown, the last owner of GBM, but no such luck.

I was going to venture a guess that if the old man you met at the store was a GBM employee it might have been Phillip Lyman, but my understanding was Mr. Lyman was notoriously well-read (and had substantial library himself) so I suppose he would not have been reading Dante for the first time when you met him. More likely it was one of our splendid customers. It happened more than once that one customer on the floor would ask me about an author or title and I would meet them with my perfectly hopeless stare ‘n stammer—until another customer that had overheard the plea would effortlessly proffer the desired answer or suggestion. I learned so much working there, from everyone, but was a pretty useless specimen while the learning percolated. One of the more useful employees (our resident poetry expert) recently got a shout-out over at the New Yorker’s book blog after being made famous at the splendiferous Kwik Meal #1 cart:

New Yorker Link

One more book nerdy bit before I cut off the nostalgia trip. The above-mentioned Marc was the first person to Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino in my hands; I read it up in the 2nd floor gallery on my lunch breaks (lunch from Kwik Meal #1, of course), surrounded by art books and Edward Gorey paraphernalia. That book took (and takes, I’ve re-read it many times) me so many places, but when I’m lucky it takes me back to Gotham’s gallery, by the 2nd floor window where the constant refrain of the gold and diamond sellers coming in through the window mingled with the dulcet tones of NPR from a radio bigger than a microwave and the smell of old paper—all unchanged almost more than a decade later. At least in my mind. It’s still one of my favorite books (and authors), ever. Marc also blessed me with recommendations of Wallace Stevens’ Palm At The End of the Mind, Moby Dick with the Rockwell Kent illustrations, and my first ever NYC apartment: a little studio over in Astoria, Queens. Everyone at that store was overflowing and generous with knowledge, stories and history.

Places like Gotham do more than provide fodder for sentimental blog comment drivel though; I hope the lessons learned from the ongoing troubles are shaping a new generation of booksellers and customers that can find ways to thrive. Bookstores don’t belong in museums. Wise men fish there.

– (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
on “Well That's That”


Best wishes for the holidays, Bud.

I used to work in the Pan Am/Met Life Building in Manhattan.  I would walk over to Gotham at lunch and browse, browse, browse.  Books were the only thing I ever bought on that stree.  It’s a shame it’s gone.  Thanks for the update for those of us no longer living in NYC.  Atlanta is not so much a book haven.

Best,
Jim H.

– Jim H.
on “Well That's That”


Yeah, for all of our technology - which is great - I mean you and I are talking about this from two ends of the country - but there’s nothing like being there.

– Bud Parr
on “Well That's That”