Can You Hear Me Screaming From Capitola?

***Disclaimer- This was one I wrote some time ago (thus the reference to Rick Perry), and for some reason never published. The article in question happened a while ago, but I still think it's a good piece on what bookselling is and why it's important. So, here you go.***


It is truth universally acknowledged that an outrageous and daft opinion is in need of someone to speak their minds loud enough to start some shit.






It happens all the time. Someone says something crazy controversial and starts a ruckus, and while the world at large reels at their stupidity the shit-starter adopts a devil-may-care attitude about it. Then everyone spends a good long time making fun of the individual, not really hoping to change his/her mind, but feeling the need to point it out nevertheless.

So it is with this article written by Farhad Manjoo, which spawned such vitriol that the backlash could be felt from New York to California. The subject matter is rather touchy for me, as it is for most people who love bookstores or gods forbid, work in one. To sum up, Manjoo's article is geared towards disabusing his reader of the notion that there is anything of real "local" value in patronizing local bookstores, and that while Amazon may be a thug, bookstores are not the magical places they have always been portrayed.

I had to work really, really hard to come up with a summary that didn't involve calling him something my gun-toting husband would blush at reading.

But I don't really want to talk about why his article is disingenuous, or about how ridiculously he has skewed the argument his way, or about how sad I feel for his wife. Partly because everyone has, and partly because people have heard the arguments a million times before. The reality of the situation is that a lot of people agree with the article, not because they hate people who work in bookstores, or even hate giving sales tax, it's that they don't understand the reality of the situation. It's a situation I have already touched on here, but it's one of those things that is easy to misunderstand if you don't work in the business.

I'm going to use one of Mr. Manjoo's own arguments here to demonstrate what I mean, and so thereby illuminate the particulars. In the article he begins by saying that Amazon price scan tactic was in poor taste because,

When you walk into Best Buy and get a salesperson to spend 10 minutes showing you a television, then leave empty-handed so you can buy the TV for less on Amazon, you’ve just turned Best Buy into Jeff Bezos’ chump.

He then goes on to make some disparaging remarks about booksellers only recommending the titles that they enjoy or have read:

Compared with online retailers, bookstores present a frustrating consumer experience. A physical store—whether it’s your favorite indie or the humongous Barnes & Noble at the mall—offers a relatively paltry selection, no customer reviews, no reliable way to find what you’re looking for, and a dubious recommendations engine. Amazon suggests books based on others you’ve read; your local store recommends what the employees like. If you don’t choose your movies based on what the guy at the box office recommends, why would you choose your books that way?

There are so very many problems with this section I have pulled.* I could go on for hours about the ways that this is wrong, but it would only be preaching to the choir to those who know and annoying to those who don't understand. The thing here is that these statements are self-contradictory. It is somehow okay to use up the Best Buy Kid's time with getting his recommendation (who is apparently very honestly telling you which stereo to get, and not at all pushing the one they have a lot of, or the one that will get him a good commission...but I digress) but not okay to waste the bookseller's time. Apparently the Best Buy Kid needs to put gas in his car, put food on the table and pay rent, but booksellers have a job whether you buy the book at their store or not.

Oh, wait.

I'm also baffled at the idea that Best Buy Kid deserves his job more than I do. I like him, and I certainly don't want to take away his job, which is why I don't buy online, but I like my job too. More than that, I work really hard at my job, at least as hard as Best Buy Kid. Even when I was a bookseller, I needed to be read up on the latest books, or at least read some reviews about them. I read all sorts of things that I might not have otherwise, just so I can have an opinion about them and so that I can recommend over a broad spectrum. I borrow books from work, and get a discount so that I will read/buy more books to be better able to recommend them.

Huh, it's like how Best Buy Kid probably spends a lot of his money at Best Buy, because he gets a discount, and they want him to know a lot about the products so he can give his best advice. He more often than not will advise honestly because he wants you to come back and buy again, which you will only do if you are happy with your purchase. Which is, you guessed it, exactly how a bookseller operates. It is not in our best interest to sell you a book that you will not like, because then you won't come back for our recommendations again. We like making money, because it keeps gas in our cars, food on our table, and the rent gets payed. We buy tons of books that we then read, and must think analytically about, rather than just whether or not the stereo works.

I'm being slightly unfair to Best Buy Kid, and I'm sure there is more to it than that. Any time you invest yourself into the selling of a product, there is a lot of work and effort that goes into it. Which is presumably why Manjoo has taken such pity on his plight, having to give time, energy and effort into something just to have those same customers listening to a recommendation and then go buy it on Amazon. Especially since he probably only makes minimum wage, and even if he doesn't get a commission then he relies on extra hours from being such a good seller.

Sound familiar? The number of times I have recommended a title, then offered to order it for them (free shipping) at the price the book costs and then have them walk away saying they'll get it online is ridiculously infuriating. Keep in mind that there is only one of me, and the time that I am helping you is time I am not helping someone else who might have bought that recommendation here in my store. It's fine and dandy to cost people their jobs to get high quality shopping advice and then save money, but it is mean to do it to Best Buy Kid. I wonder what the difference is in Mr. Manjoo's mind, and is indeed in many customer's minds, between our jobs. 

Look, I love my job. I am lucky, in this economy, to be getting paid to be doing what I love. But what I love is hard, what I love takes time, and what I love can and does get treated like a commodity that I sell. Manjoo's  article paints booksellers as used car salesmen, and hopes to degrade us with it.

Before I continue this metaphor too far or go on more about our "cult", I'll ask as Richard Russo did: What is it that we should pay for books? Should we pay for the expert advice and go out of our way to make sure that that advice source is there, in case we need it later?  While we are not gods and are often wrong, we are honestly wrong, and much less likely to be wrong than a mathematical algorithm that is trying to judge your taste in books. So who deserves the money more? And is the extra amount worth it? I can't say that you'll agree with me for sure, but I'd love to hear your opinion. 

Also, I have this book you might enjoy...



* We suggest books based on what you've read! The guy at the box office has probably seen all the movies that are out and why is his opinion less valid than the guy who is ranting on Rotten Tomatoes?! Also book reviews online are often bought and sold! AGHHH.