Choose Your Own Comics Shop

It’s Tuesday, 4:17 pm. Outside, the air is crisp and clear, and you can feel each breath as it rushes to fill your expanding lungs. You pull your jacket tighter. You had rushed quick as you could to Lewisburg, PA; three days ago, your friend had let you know about a comic shop in the town that you hadn’t known existed. You’re excited to see what it has to offer. The shop is on South 3rd Street, just off Market Street. When you arrive, you’re struck by how much it resembles a house. A large sign hangs out front, proudly proclaiming the name of the store to the world: Comics Metropolis. There’s a short set of stairs leading up to the entrance.

When you open the door, a chime sounds, and you hear a greeting from the room to your right. You peek your head in. The room is full of shelves stocked with thousands of comic books; at the front of the room is the counter, where a jovial gentleman sits: Albert Payne, one of the owners of the store. You return the greeting, still standing in the entryway of the store. There’s a set of stairs in front of you, a couple boxes printed with images of various superheroes, and a small kiosk populated by comics inspired by Disney. To your left, you see a room full of action figures. Ceiling-high shelves are stocked with figures from comics and popular movies, all of varying sizes and detail. You have two options before you: to the left or the right?

If you want to go left, click here.                                                                           If you want to go right, click here.

 

You head into the gaming room, and inside is Laura Payne, the other owner of the store, sorting comics on the long wooden table. She tells you that this is what they do with shipments every Tuesday; Comics Metropolis is one of the few comic stores that bags and boards comics free of charge for customers, and all comics on the shelve are wrapped up to prevent damage.

The room has the perfect feel for a room you would love to play games in, with the big windows and spacious area. It fits the tabletop gamer aesthetic you’re familiar with fantastically. As you watch Laura carefully package each comic book, you recall an essay you had read in one of your classes: “Unpacking My Library” by Walter Benjamin, from his book Illuminations. The essay deals with, at parts, the methods and reasoning behind why people collect things, primarily books. Benjamin writes “I am not exaggerating when I say that to a true collector the acquisition of an old book is its rebirth” (Benjamin, 61). This particular passage from the essay strikes you as you recall the numerous old comics decorating the walls, in particular that which Albert had shown you as you entered the main comics room.

The comic is only worth so much as it is because it’s important to somebody. Here, in the store, it sits, doing nothing but looking pretty, but if and when someone takes the effort to procure it, the comic will be given new life. It will impact someone’s life, whether they be a lifelong fan or a new collector. New meanin g will be attributed to it. When it was printed, it was merely a fun story for children. Now, however, it harkens back to the golden age, to when you could grab a comic from a newsstand for a nickel and have a fun afternoon with your friends reading about how Spider-Man thwarts the villainous Electro. To the buyer, that comic means so much more in their possession than it does growing dusty on a shelf.

To return to the comic book room, click here.                                   To go to the action figure room, click here.

 

You head to the room decorated with action figures. The center of the room is dominated by a large display of figures, all in their boxes, like a wall of trophies. Rows and rows of identical figures hang from white metal hooks. The far wall houses an impressive collection of Funko Pop! figurines on the lower half of the wall, the top dedicated to impressive Transformer models.

All four corners of the room have a dedicated shelf. One is full of excess Funko Pop! characters and action figure sets. To the left of the entrance to the room is a shelf dedicated to the famous faces of Marvel Comics.

The thing surprising about this room’s book display is the fact that it contains real paperback books. You hadn’t expected to find real books in a comic books shop, and yet here you stand, face to face with that exact situation. You look closely at the books, and notice that each of them seem to bear the crest of the Warhammer 40,000 series. Warhammer 40,000 is a multi-form spanning science fiction/fantasy world, encompassing books, buildable models, and video games.

You gaze around the room in awe of the sheer number of different action figures that exist, the store’s inventory not nearly exhaustive, and recall a passage from James Clifford’s book Collections. The passage comes from the chapter “On Collecting Art and Culture”: “Thus the self that must possess but cannot have it all learns to select, order, classify in hierarchies–to make “good” collections” (Clifford, 218). Clifford is talking here about the way that people decide what is worth collecting. Many of these action figures are certainly fit for collecting, and as you glance around the room, you remember that action figures are one of the most highly sought after collectibles on the market; rare and mint-condition figures can sell for over seven thousand dollars.

To you, Clifford’s essay hits right at home here, especially surrounded by action figures as you currently are. The only reason that these items wind up costing so much is that they mean something to somebody, that they ignite within individuals “an excessive, sometimes even rapacious need to have” and so these items are increased in their monetary value because of the cultural value that they have to people. You wonder if any of the figures around you will someday fetch such a high price.

The small room off of the action figure room piques your interest, and you pop your head in. It is stocked full of roleplaying tabletop games, with everything from Dungeons and Dragons miniatures and guides to five levels of expansions for Betrayal at the House on the Hill. The room also features a collection of Star Wars and Warhammer 40K scale models to build and paint, with a display dedicated to the decorating tools.

If you want to head to the comics room, click here. If you want to reexamine the action figure room, click here.

 

You head to the comics room. You give Albert a nod where he sits behind the register, and notice through the glass casing that there are some comics inside. You head closer to examine them.

“These are some of our most expensive comics,” Albert says. “Do you want to take a closer look at our most expensive?” Without waiting for an answer, he reaches under the counter and pulls out a pristine edition of The Amazing Spider-Man. It’s the introduction of Electro. “Character introductions always sell for a lot. This particular comic is worth six-hundred dollars. Most expensive one we have here.”

Suitably impressed, you throw a glance around the walls of the comic room. There are comics in hard plastic sleeves lining the walls, each of them adorned with a hefty price tag. These comics all seem to be worth at least twenty dollars, some reaching up to over one hundred dollars.

The comics themselves fill all the shelves in the room. In the back right corner, you catch sight of the newest editions of current comics series, all organized alphabetically, and as you follow the shelves, you notice they travel around the shop clockwise. The big shelf taking up the middle of the room is also full of comics. You move to the back of the room, close to the second room opened off of the comic room, and find that the shelf in the middle is full of older comics. there are drawers all along the bottom of the shelf, also full of comics. These comics too are organized alphabetically but circle the room counterclockwise.

This layout is smart. You realize that if someone were to be checking out these old comics, they would be forced to move to the back of the room and circle around until they reach the shelf dedicated to the newest releases. A wanderer would pass every comic in the store, and with the eye-catching covers these issues all have, they would most likely be sucked into purchasing more than they bargained for. You yourself find your eyes drawn to the myriad covers in the room. They truly are beautiful.

The back wall has space dedicated to publications other than superhero comics, and you are drawn over to these shelves. There are, of course, superhero comics on these shelves, but contained in omnibuses rather than individual issues. Much more of the shelves are dedicated to graphic novels, and you spy a graphic adaptation of Moby Dick. There are manga high up on the shelves, and a window separates the two shelves of graphic novels. You can explore the second room branching off this one, or you can head to the other side of the store. Wherever it is you wind up heading, you know you’ll feel at home in Comics Metropolis.

To head to the gaming room, click here.                                           To go to the action figure room, click here.

 

Sources

All photos courtesy of Jacob Tashoff and Chris Naiman

Texts:
Benjamin, Walter. “Unpacking My Bookstore.” Illuminations. Mariner Books, 2018.

Clifford, James. “On Collecting Arts and Culture.” Harvard University Press, 1988.

The Chest that Holds Many Treasures

Strolling down Market Street the first thing I notice when approaching DJ Ernst is the welcoming sign hanging out front. When I first enter the store around the late afternoon, my presence was made aware of by the sound of a faint bell ringing above the door. Then looking around at first sight I noticed the warm, setting sunlight pouring into the store through the two large front windows. Each bookshelf stood out from one another with all of their different books popping with color. I instantly feel a sense of home and comfort right as I spot out the old worn out armchair with a knitted blanket laid on top.

Walking through the store you”ll noticed there is not really a systematic design set up by Ernst for his floor plan. At first glance, from walking through the front door, smack in the middle of the store and slightly off to the left is an oddly shaped display of books. Observing the structure more closely it seemed that this book shelf was made up of several types of wooden pieces. Some of the shelves were tall while others were small and there was even a table that was thrown into the mix. Each of these shelves hold a variation of book from $12.00 paperbacks, to multiple topics of books and even full collections. All of which are facing in different directions. The way it is placed directs customers to travel around the perimeters of the store, evenly distributing the traffic that comes in instead of directing them in a specific direction. Some people who are lookin for a more corporate style may not appeal to this, but I for one like it because it adds character which I think is important for running and independent store.

Both Homer and his father started this business out of their passion for books, therefore Ernst did not know much on how to be a bookseller. I think this reflects in his floor plan because unlike corporate bookstores DJ Ernst Books is not very detailed oriented when it comes to its organization within the bookshelves. It is clearly grown from his pure interest and love for books. Not only is Ernst’s store filled with books , but it is also personalized by surrounding every inch of the wall space with various possessions like postcards, pictures of his family, articles cut out from newspapers about his store, and multiple maps and images of Pennsylvania. You can tell by all of these photos and newspaper cut outs that he is proud of his accomplishments of growing into being a successful independent bookstore owner. By sharing these various memories the store is made even more personable, which i think is the store’s true character.

The shelves on the outer perimeters are flush against the walls with each of their genres handwritten on pieces of paper. Although most of the books are on the shelves there are also three rows of books neatly stacked on the floor, spine up, in front of the shelves. Most of what covers the floors are the cheapest editions used and paperback books. It is almost as if he has too many books for his store to display. It is not necessarily organized in a traditional sense, but as Walter Benjamin refers to in his essay  “Unpacking My Library”: “For what else is a collection but a disorder in which habit has accommodated itself to such an extent that it can appear as order” (Benjamin, 60).

 

To the right of the store, flush against the window side is where a variety of Shakespeare plays are stocked in several additions. As you keep walking towards the right side of the store is where one of the larger book cases is flush against the wall. It holds a variety of genres such as Poetry, American Literature, Hunting, Philosophy and a few others that you can follow towards the back of the store. As you near towards the back following that shelf, to left is where the cash register is along with a small shelf stocked with books written by professors at Susquehanna University. Across from this shelf to the left of the cash register, is where most of the older classics are held along with lesser known writers and even some fantasy and adventure books.

Finally almost wrapping around full circle, behind the previously mention bookshelf, flush against the wall are where all of the different history books are held. When looking around Homer’s bookstore it reminds me of Walter Benjamin’s writing on his collection of books, as he describes his library with “the air saturated with the dust of wood, the floor covered with…paper, to join me among piles of volumes that are seeing daylight again” (Benjamin, 59). Homer gives not only his store its own unique identity, but also his books in the ways he displays them. Writing this I am also coming to the conclusion that the second true character of DJ Ernst Books would be self identity. From starting out of pure fascination of books to slowly learning the roles of what it takes to be a successful independent bookstore owner.

 

 

 

Sources:

Floor Plan

hand drawn by Laurel Jakucs

Images 

Google image search

Literature 

Benjamin, Walter. Unpacking My Library: A Talk About Book Collecting. Schocken Books, 1931.

A Bookstore Fit For A King

Exterior of John King Books

It’s hard to miss the four-story high, industrial building as you walk down West Lafayette Boulevard in Detroit, Michigan. Located just off the M-10 Lodge Expressway, the bookstore is nestled between Downtown Detroit, an area with museums, historical sites, and restaurants, and the West Side Industrial, a business district with apartments and condos lining the riverfront. Decorated with an enormous image of a glove, an image reminiscent of the original purpose of the building, both your curiosity and feet pull you through the front door of John K. King Used & Rare Books.

As soon as you walk in, you’ll notice boxes of free books. Continuing up the stairs and into the distinct sections, you’ll notice that books cover every wall, every floor space of the store. The first floor consists mostly of books on Michigan, art, and classics, a selection of genres that will immediately draw in any kind of customer.  John King Books isn’t simply a bookstore.  It’s a destination for both tourists and residents of Michigan with a unique sense of “place” that can be found nowhere else here on the outskirts of Downtown Detroit.

John King creates his bookstore’s “authentic sense of place” through the eclectic mix of books in his store.  Here is where his visitors will find exactly what they didn’t know they needed – there is something for everyone.  When we think “independent bookstore” we think “smallness…, being locally based, and limited in geographic scope,” visualizing a small bookstore with a collection that’s impressive in diversity but not size (Miller 165).

We don’t picture John K. King Used & Rare Books.

With four floors filled to the brim with books and a spare building for its rare books collection, John King Books is anything but small.  A landmark in its own right, the bookstore gets a myriad of visitors.  Both proud residents of Michigan and curious tourists walk in ready to find their next literary treasure.

John K. King Used & Rare Books isn’t located in an area bustling with businesses; it’s fairly isolated on a street corner.  Although the store’s website, and Google Maps, claims it’s in Downtown Detroit, some sources place the store in West Side Industrial, such as real estate websites Zillow and Trulia, as well as this map created by compiling various sources.  Regardless of which neighborhood John King Books officially belongs to, the store acts as a bridge between the two neighborhoods.  The West Side Industrial area immediately surrounding the store appears empty and devoid of culture, but John King Books is within walking distance of the museums, theaters, and art galleries in Downtown Detroit.

You may choose to visit the downtown area to experience some culture, but once you get closer to the border between the two neighborhoods, John King Books is the only culture you’re going to get.

John King Used & Rare Books doesn’t have the best relationship with the neighborhood in which it resides.  King originally chose the location on West Lafayette because the building was large enough to hold his enormous book collection, but he didn’t seem to take the actual neighborhood into account.  The books are what matter to King; the neighborhood is simply an afterthought.  Most bookstores strive to be involved with the neighborhood surrounding their bookstore, but King takes a different approach.  While he places those free books in the store’s lobby for people who can’t afford books, he otherwise doesn’t involve himself with the community surrounding the bookstore (May 3, 2016 interview).

Aside from the specific neighborhood, King doesn’t even have an appreciation for Detroit itself. According to King, the city does not treat small business owners well, and it makes King’s work difficult. He told the Detroit Metro Times, “If I were going to start a bookstore in a major city, Detroit would not be on my list of cities to open—and not because of people, but because of the city.”  Although Detroit may not be the most ideal location for a bookstore, King’s passion for bookselling keeps him at West Lafayette Boulevard.

Despite King’s lack of involvement in the community, John K. King Used & Rare Books has grown into an icon of the West Side Industrial area, with its claims to fame as the second best bookstore in the world in 2014 according to Business Insider, and one of the world’s coolest bookstores in 2014 and 2015 according to CNN.  John King Books isn’t the first bookstore to serve as a staple for the surrounding community, though.

Before West Side Industrial there was Corktown, and before John King there was Ethel Claes.

Ethel Claes (right) and her mother Hilja
Ethel Claes (right) and her mother Hilja

Back in the 1950’s, neighboring residential area Corktown encompassed the present-day West Side Industrial district.  It was during this time period that Detroit city planners decided to convert part of Corktown into a light industrial zone.  A woman named Ethel Claes stepped up to rally the residents of Corktown and fight for their homes.  Claes ran a bookstore called The B.C. Claes Book Shop out of her Victorian home with the help of her mother, Hilja.  While the shop had previously been known as a popular stop for Midwest rare book collectors, it was now known among the Corktown community as a “rallying point” for the fight against city planners.

As can be seen today, the Corktown residents failed to save the 75 acres of residences that were bulldozed and replaced with West Side Industrial.  Claes’s leadership and spirit can still be credited with preventing the loss of even more land and preserving what now makes up Corktown today.  John King Books has replaced The B.C. Claes Book Shop as Corktown/West Side Industrial’s local literary gathering place.  While it may not be the center of a significant fight against the city, the store’s identity as a spiritual descendant of Ethel Claes can be easily seen as it brings people together from both within West Side Industrial and outside the area’s boundaries.

Since it is located in a light industrial zone, there aren’t really any residents for John King Books to fight for, unless you go down to the Riverfront apartments.  West Side Industrial today is vastly different from Claes’s Corktown of fifty years ago.  It can then be assumed that a vast majority of visitors to the store come from outside to West Side Industrial, and they’re coming to the area with John King Books as their destination, not the neighborhood.  “Space” is acknowledged as being innately present in all areas of reality, but it is up to us as humans to assign significance and establish “place” (Cresswell 11).  John King Books has carved out its own little “place” in the insignificant “space” of West Side Industrial thanks to the patrons it draws to its doors.

The buildings that would become home to John King Books as they were in 1966
The buildings that would become home to John King Books as they were in 1966

Now let’s take a look at the history of the store itself.  King’s business hasn’t always operated out of the dilapidated factory it’s known for today, and his bookstore actually led a pretty mobile life in the beginning.  Initially established in Dearborn, Michigan (1971), John K. King Used & Rare Books only operated for a few years before packing up and shipping out to the Michigan Theatre Building (1977) in Downtown Detroit.  Unfortunately, this new location didn’t last long, either, as the store’s growing book collection demanded more room.  When the Advance Glove factory building at 901 West Lafayette came up for sale in 1983, King didn’t hesitate to purchase the four-story complex for his expanding bookstore venture.  Now in 2016, John K. King Used & Rare Books is still conducting business from the same glove factory, and King himself now has various awards in honor of his bookstore.

John K. King SignKnowing the history of John King Books is insightful into King’s business, but that sense of “place” is what truly helps you understand its impact on the bookstore.  “Place, in whatever guise, is like space and time, a social construct” (Cresswell 57).  When you take the opportunity to look at John King Books’s place within the industrial district of Detroit as a social construct, you begin to see the outside influences that define it.  While the physical location of the building certainly makes a difference, the social workings of the surrounding area largely affect how we perceive John King’s bookstore.  When you juxtapose what is essentially the only major independent bookstore in the area outside Downtown Detroit, you get an idea of how vital this store is to the distribution of literature in the area.  This outlet of books is really the only resource available to local residents looking to satiate their literary curiosities.

The ownership of John King Used & Rare Books has been consistent over the many years it has been in business.  Today, John King represents the store behind him.  He is passionate about the collection of books in his store.  “Every passion borders on the chaotic, but the collector’s passion borders on the chaos of memories” (Benjamin 60). King’s store certainly appears chaotic, and this chaos can also be seen in King’s personality.  In interviews, King isn’t forthcoming about specific dates in the store’s history; he doesn’t seem to keep track of when the store started and when it moved.

So what does King remember?

John K. King
John K. King

King recalls his childhood, which he spent exploring used bookstores in Detroit. He was attracted to the stuff inside the bookstores: both the books and the “various characters” he met (Detroit Metro Times).  From a young age, King had a passion for used bookstores, so it seems only natural that he decided to open his own store as an adult.

King also recalls the estates where he acquired the stock for his store.  When he gets a call from a lawyer or an heir offering up an estate to be sold, he buys what he thinks he can sell, transferring ownership of the specific collection.  “Ownership is the most intimate relationship that one can have to objects” and the collector lives in those objects (Benjamin 67).  When King acquires books for his store, he establishes this intimate relationship.  The store’s shelves hold King’s personal collection, the books he deems worthy of stocking, and his presence is alive in the store.

John K. King Used & Rare Books is a reflection of King’s tastes and tendencies. It’s a little disorganized and scattered, but full of valuable books.  And, with the store named after him, it’s no surprise to discover that King is an active member of the store’s own little community.  He works in the store consistently, spending his days buying books, arguing with people, and discussing literature (May 3, 2016 interview).  He is a recognizable figure in the store as the owner of the large collection that fill the store’s four floors.

This independent bookstore boasts an incredible amount of variety within that ever expansive stock.  While you won’t have any difficulties finding your classics or historical accounts, you would also be hard-pressed to find a subject not covered somewhere within this plethora of books.  All of these different genres coming together to compose an overall organized layout is the pure epitome of order and disorder.  The nature of the collector forms a “dialectical tension between the poles of disorder and order” (Benjamin 60).  To an outside spectator, the arrangement of books in John King Books may seem like nothing more than chaos, but in the right eyes, his bookstore maintains perfect order.

As you observe the contents contained on each floor of John K. King Used & Rare Books, you’ll notice a trend as you ascend the building.  Though the material covered in the books of the ground floor is conventional, an obscurity of genre is gradually explored as you go up each level.  By the time you actually reach the top floor of King’s bookstore, you’re confronted with literature pertaining to odd topics, like alternative medicine and the Kennedy family.  It’s hard to see the logic and reasoning behind this array of literature, but John King does have a method to the madness.  Even if you are unable to understand the order in the store’s disorder, the bookstore is still fulfilling its greater purpose.  By hosting this wide selection of literary genres, King is not only providing his customers with variety, but connecting them to worlds they would have never imagined.

While some people think “literature” is only restricted to the classics like Charles Dickens or Walt Whitman, John King and his bookstore suggest that the term “literature” can be applied to all writing.  The store’s layout only places emphasis on certain genres from a business point of view by placing the more popular genres like Michigan history and juvenile literature on the first floor.  The rare book room housed in the second building also places more monetary value on the physical books but not necessarily on the words they contain.  Fiction and non-fiction are mixed together on each one of the store’s four floors, and the store shows no shame in selling everything from True Crime to Civil War to Classics to Self Help books.

The website for the store’s rare book catalog claims: We are particularly interested in books concerning Military History, Michigan and Detroit, the Auto Industry, Signed books, First Editions, Stationary[,] Steam Engineering, Bible Reference, Chess and Checkers, Slight-of-Hand Magic, Incunabula and Early Printings, etc.”  The store seeks to offer customers a myriad of genres, while still helping them find something they can’t find anywhere else.  There are little to no restrictions on genre or form of writing for the literature sold at John K. King Rare & Used Books.

John King Books presents itself as a place where people can get lost in literature.  Customers are encouraged to lose themselves in the stacks, browsing every shadowy corner with minimal employee interference.  The top three floors each have a telephone that customers can use to call an employee for assistance, a necessary fixture since the store doesn’t have any employees wandering among the stacks hoping to help.  John King Used & Rare Books is a store where you can stay for an extended period of time; it’s not a store where you can easily just pop in and out with your book.  The store is an inviting oasis, a safe haven for those who love books.

Since John King Books doesn’t use computers to inventory the stock, customers can’t request for a bookseller to simply look up a title or author digitally.  Without this digital crutch that so many bookstores have become accustomed to, customers and booksellers alike have no choice but to wander through the stacks and search for their request themselves.  The store’s large and diverse collection offers you the chance to find not just the perfect book for your needs, but also yourself.

john king books exteriorYou might fear that the changing techniques used by booksellers to rack up profits will drive John King Used & Rare Books out of business, but the owner isn’t worried. “We were here before Borders, we were here during Borders, and we’re here after Borders,” King told the Detroit Metro Times.  The store has proven itself capable of surviving the shifting technology of bookstores, and it if can outlast a successful chain store and the shifting political climate of Detroit, then the store doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon.

One strength the bookstore has that allows it to survive is its international presence.  King is proud of the fact that he ships books all over the world, which illustrates the store’s desire to be more than a community bookstore.  John K. King Used & Rare Books doesn’t strive to provide literature to locals; it strives to provide literature to readers, wherever they may be located.

As King says, “we’re not a community bookstore, we’re a destination bookstore” (May 3, 2016 interview).

 

Sources

Text

Benjamin, Walter. Illuminations. Ed. Hannah Arendt. Trans. Harry Zohn. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1968. Print.

Cresswell, Tim. Place: A Short Introduction. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub, 2004.

Miller, Laura J. Reluctant Capitalists: Bookselling and the Culture of Consumption. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006.

 

Websites
John K. King’s Used & Rare Books Website. Rarebooklink.com.

http://www.rarebooklink.com/cgi-bin/kingbooks/index.html

DeVito, Lee. “John K. King Used & Rare Books.” Metrotimes.com. 2014.

http://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/john-king-of-john-k-king-used-and-rare-books/Content?oid=2143899

John K. King Used & Rare Books Official Website. Kingbooksdetroit.com.

http://www.kingbooksdetroit.com/

Szewczyk, Paul. “Corktown History.” Corktownhistory.blogspot.com. 2014.

http://corktownhistory.blogspot.com/2014/08/john-k-king-books.html

 

Media
“John K. King Used & Rare Books.” GoogleMaps. 2016.

<https://www.google.com/maps/place/John+K.+King+Used+%26+Rare+Books/@42.3276753,-83.0571661,3a,75y,148.83h,92.46t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s4sPzMkqbArS7Novd013pSA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D4sPzMkqbArS7Novd013pSA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D204.04396%26pitch%3D0!7i13312!8i6656!4m2!3m1!1s0x883b2d3898055011:0x9cb2ad271d9156f2!6m1!1e1?hl=en>

“John K. King Used & Rare Books History.” TimeToast. 2016.

<http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/john-k-king-used-and-rare-books>

“John K. King Used & Rare Books.” ThingLink. 2016.

<http://www.thinglink.com>

“Literary Tourist: John K. King Used and Rare Books, Detroit.” YouTube.com. 2012.

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AS0oUuFHuMY>

“W Lafayette Blvd” GoogleMaps. 2016.

<https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3276798,-83.0571556,0a,75y,140.27h,88.67t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s4sPzMkqbArS7Novd013pSA!2e0?source=apiv3>

Images
John K. King’s bookstore

http://media.afar.com/uploads/images/post_images/images/jGDWnvivwE/post_display_cropped_open-uri20130626-24184-6imw1o?1383817134

Ethel and Hilja Claes

http://corktownhistory.blogspot.com/2013/02/ethel-claes-and-west-side-industrial.html

Exterior of old glove factory

http://dlxs.lib.wayne.edu/cgi/i/image/image-idx?id=S-VMC-X-47335%5D47335

Michigan’s largest bookstore sign

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/88/f8/dd/88f8dde5807b60276fccacc156447d25.jpg

John K. King

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5287/5222959902_8577a97c51_b.jpg

King’s bookstore skyward view

http://s3-media4.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/QAGkOgfboYcoClGWggSW4g/o.jpg

Time Line: Advance Glove Manufacturing

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-h_X5liWHMKM/U5tVDCfJevI/AAAAAAAAIHE/zp7maCsL_us/s512/2014-05-24%252016.41.17.jpg

Time Line: Old Advance Glove Factory

https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3918/14593048290_31ee12809f_o.jpg

Time Line: Dearborn, Michigan Sign

http://dcxposed.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/dearborn-arab-fest.jpg

Time Line: John K. King Used & Rare Bookstore

http://motorcitymuckraker.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/John-King-books_2489.jpg

 

Knights of the Long Table

There are a whole bunch of Chatty Cathy’s at Politics & Prose—and I’m not just referring to the full-time employees who love talking your ear off about their new favorite reads. (Offering personal recommendations is, after all, part of the job description.) Since the store’s cash registers and Information Desk are located front and center, no doubt the booksellers will start a conversation with you the second that you walk through the doors. And if by chance you happen to evade them, don’t worry, a large selection on the right wall toward the front of the store features “New and Recommended Nonfiction” (italics added for emphasis). But as you keep wandering, you’ll notice that the space and its contents are just as loquacious as the workers.

When Carla Cohen and Barbara Meade opened Politics & Prose in 1984, they aimed to create a place where people could share their ideas about books and important issues. Today, the indie’s new owners, Brad Graham and Lissa Muscatine, have tasked themselves with continuing this mission and positioning the shop as “a marketplace for ideas.” But Graham and Muscatine aren’t the only forces at play; the store’s interior design is also responsible for maintaining an informed dialogue.

Take, for instance, the selection of nonfiction titles within the store. When you walk into Politics & Prose and turn right, the first three sections you’ll find are Current Events, New and Recommended Nonfiction, and Biography and History. (These sections are featured above.) The particular sequence of these genres suggests a sort of collective investigation, as if the books within these categories are speaking to one another. For instance, a reader can peruse contemporary issues from a national perspective or an individual one (but, really, isn’t the personal political?) and then explore the ways in which history informed or ignored those topics.

Even more telling of the bookstore’s dedication to dialogue is the wide array of book groups hosted by Politics & Prose. The particular texts used by each group are prominently displayed in the very center of the first floor, as if the store revolves around a tradition of discussion.

When communicating with Muscatine about the bookstore’s interior arrangement via email, she quickly listed the different genres located on each floor without any mention of merchandise or additional structures. However, when talking about the lower level, she noted the presence of “a long table where our book groups meet.”

The first time I read this phrase, I thought Muscatine’s emphasis of the long table was a little silly; it seemed like such a random detail amidst the greater genre inventory. But, upon closer examination, Muscatine’s special acknowledgement of the long table signifies her pride in her roles as both a bookseller and a book collector.

In “Unpacking My Library,” Walter Benjamin writes that “inheritance is the soundest way of acquiring a collection. For a collector’s attitude toward his possessions stems from an owner’s feeling of responsibility toward his property” (66). Muscatine, as well as Graham, are the purchasers, or inheritors, of Politics & Prose, an institution that is essentially a mass collection of books. Upon acquiring the store, Muscatine said that both she and Graham “care about the role of discourse in a democracy,” a phrase suggestive of the two owners’ sense of civic duty with respect to the contents of their store. They want to use the literature within their “library” to facilitate conversation. The long table allows them to perform this task, making the object an important component of the booksellers’ collection.

Speaking of democracy, it’s worth mentioning the Washington, D.C. section within the bookstore. Since Politics & Prose is located in the nation’s capital, housing a collection of D.C.-related texts makes sense. In fact, one of the shop’s book groups called District Reads devotes itself to the discussion of books specifically about the capital and its history.

These D.C. texts call to mind a quote from “On Collecting Art and Culture” by James Clifford. He writes about the formation of a sense of self through literal and figurative entities, stating that “identity is a kind of wealth (of objects, knowledge, memories, experience)” (218). The D.C. books at Politics & Prose constitute a form of social commentary on Washington, D.C. identity, suggestive of the ways in which residents view themselves, their city, and their collective history.

This commentary becomes even more telling when you realize that, at one point, the Washington, D.C. section contained Obama bobble heads. This kind of merchandise speaks to the capitalist ideologies underlying the bookstore as an economic institution, nuancing Muscatine’s aforementioned portrayal of Politics & Prose as a “marketplace” for the exchange between goods and currency.

Bill Clinton Chatting with a Customer at Politics & Prose
Bill Clinton Chatting with a Customer at Politics & Prose

In an attempt to push the dialogue even farther, Politics & Prose holds about 400 author events annually. (Keep in mind, there are only 365 days in a year.) Many of these events are book readings followed by Question and Answer sessions. Past visiting authors include former U.S. President Bill Clinton and nonfiction writer Patti Smith, and book subjects range from education to climate change to the Middle East. Understanding that guests have historically leaned toward the left, Graham and Muscatine make a conscious effort to host more conservative authors. In this way, they can craft the most robust, comprehensive, and inclusive discourse.

The Question and Answer sessions during these events are crucial for the flourishment of healthy conversation, serving as an invitation for both authors and readers to debate and discuss relevant, contentious topics. In this way, the people frequenting Politics & Prose become part of the store’s collection. Benjamin notes that a book collection is a “living library,” and the guests of Politics & Prose are an integral part of the bookstore’s vitality (66). Along with the words within the texts themselves, the people of Politics & Prose quite literally give the bookstore its voice.

So, with all this emphasis on political discourse, why the heck does Politics & Prose carry such a large selection of greeting cards?

Yes, that’s correct, greeting cards. Shelves full of colorful cards appear toward the back of the store, waiting to be purchased by customers. The inclusion of this type of merchandise seems really strange—until you realize that a card is a form of verbal communication between a sender and a receiver, just as a book is one between an author and a reader.

The presence of so many greeting cards reminds me of a line from Reluctant Capitalists. Quoting an indie bookseller, Laura Miller notes that the independent bookstore “functions… as a place, in this society, to exchange ideas in a way that nothing else does” (220). The same is true for letters. Many writers throughout history, including Samuel Richardson (1689-1761) and Mary Shelley (1797-1851), have used the epistolary format when composing their works. Centuries later, authors are still writing in this style—evidenced by this neat article about contemporary epistolary novels. Politics & Prose represents this literary tradition—using books, and greeting cards, as a type of correspondence and a medium for intellectual exchange.

Below you’ll find the floorplan for the First Floor of Politics & Prose, followed by the floorplan for the Lower Level. Feel free to “walk around the store” and begin your own dialogue with the interior space.




Sources

 

Texts

Benjamin, Walter, and Hannah Arendt. Illuminations. New York: Schocken Books, 1986.

Clifford, James. The Predicament of Culture: Twentieth-century Ethnography, Literature, and Art. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1988.

Miller, Laura J. Reluctant Capitalists: Bookselling and the Culture of Consumption. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006.

 

Pictures

Bill Clinton < http://cache3.asset-cache.net/gc/51028369-former-u-s-president-bill-clinton-talks-to-a-gettyimages.jpgv=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=OCUJ5gVf7YdJQI2Xhkc2QMe9fPldBXFk7EUDlJUXlLWVtnFV6Q6OorxDc4baIT%2Fh96gYHN39o7h1VVHqvPhJMg%3D%3D>

 

Google Maps

Politics & Prose <https://www.google.com/maps/place/Politics+%26+Prose+Bookstore/@38.9553438,-77.0700071,17z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x89b7c9b992f1a9f7:0xb82a9184a0d413af>

 

Articles and Links

Ballard, Jenna. “Bustle.” Bustle. Bustle, 13 Aug. 2014. Web. 21 Mar. 2016. <http://www.bustle.com/articles/34809-11-contemporary-epistolary-novels-that-are-a-blast-to-read>.

Book Groups. N.p., 2016. Web. 21 Mar. 2016. <http://www.politics-prose.com/book-groups>.

Brown, Emma. “Carla Cohen Dies; Co-founder of D.C. Bookstore Politics and Prose.” Washington Post. The Washington Post, 11 Oct. 2010. Web. 21 Mar. 2016. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/11/AR2010101102811.html?sid=ST2010101102828>.

Events. N.p., 2016. Web. 21 Mar. 2016. <http://www.politics-prose.com/events>.

Hodges, Lauren. “A Community Spine.” The Los Angeles Review of Books. The Los Angeles Review of Books, 14 Oct. 2014. Web. 21 Mar. 2016. <https://lareviewofbooks.org/essay/community-spine/?utm_medium=twitter&utmsource=linesandgraphs>.

Politics & Prose Bookstore. N.p., 2016. Web. 21 Mar. 2016. <http://www.politics-prose.com/>.

For Sale: Books (and Small Children, Too!)

As a senior undergrad student I have a hard time imagining that the temptation of discount books and a cozy promise of caffeine could fail to appeal to anyone. Interestingly enough, the owners of the Politics and Prose bookstore seem to believe the same thing. When you enter the bookstore, the stairs to the lower floor are located directly in front of you. Above are large signs advertising the sale books and the Modern Times Coffeehouse awaiting patrons just downstairs.

I initially believed that having the stairs at the entrance that lead to the lower level of the bookstore made for an awkward design in the building layout. After extensively touring the bookstore via Google Maps (which is definitely easier said than done), I decided that perhaps having the lower level stairs at the entrance is not awkward at all. It allows for the checkout area to be located near the entrance, which offers more potential for employees of the bookstore to engage patrons, a surefire indicator that you are in an independent bookstore, not a chain bookstore whose employees tend to keep a distance from shoppers. The stairs at the entrance also offer the bookstore patron another exciting selection of pathways from the moment they walk in the store.

Below are two floor plans of the Politics and Prose bookstore. If you hover over the image, small tags will appear. For the main level, I would recommend following my train of thought by beginning in the Fiction Room and then going around the store in a counterclockwise manner. For the lower level, my experience was more scattered, thanks to the complexity of Google Maps. I would recommend taking a more orderly, clockwise path starting with the discussion tables.

If you are interested in a fictional series, the Fiction Room on your left after entering the bookstore is your main objective. Inside you are not only surrounded on all sides by the store’s fiction selection, but you can also find the Opus machine. There are less than 100 of these machines in the world. Clear walls allow you to see how the machine is printing on the inside, so when Opus is in action it will often draw a crowd of onlookers to the Fiction Room. A so-called Espresso Book Machine, Opus is able to print paperbacks on demand in five minutes or less. With that unofficial slogan that sounds an awful lot like a cheap pizza business, Opus is keeping the printed book relevant in the age of e-books and tablets.

If instead of going left into the Fiction Room you stay on the main floor and go to the right, you will encounter the part of the store that I honestly have the least interest in. This part of my digital tour was what really made me fit the name of the bookstore to its merchandise. Although the rest of the bookstore is not entirely political, it is certainly interspersed with politically associated genres more than your average bookstore. 

PROSE-popup
Susan Tobias, a patron of Politics & Prose, relaxing in the aesthetically pleasing Art section. And yes, tucked away on the Art bookshelf behind her is a book with President Obama’s face on the cover.

At the entrance you will encounter today’s current events in the form of The New York Times, and continue on to the Politics and History section. Passing between the International Studies and Science sections, you find another entire corner of the bookstore designated to Washington, D.C,Finally, at the very back of the store, framed by sunlit windows and an open, aesthetically pleasing space, is the Arts section. If ever there were an instance in my mind of prioritizing the “top shelf,” this would be it; the Arts section located in the most pleasing place on the main floor, and the cheaper books and walking petri dishes section located down below in the lower level.

If you are neither interested in the Fiction Room nor the rest of the politics-infused portion of the main floor, then I would assume you are either a patron looking for affordable books or a mother of young children clambering to get their hands on a new elementary fiction story. Either way, heading straight downstairs to a rejuvenating latte is the way you want to go. Even if the occasional open ceiling concept gives off a more industrial style vibe, all of the shelves and books appear to be kept organized. The designated areas for children are colorful and inviting, whereas the discussion table area is simpler, with an open and clean space meant for work that is separate than what would be done in the coffeehouse. In the coffeehouse, there seems to be a unique energy compared to the rest of the store, where I imagine contemporary jazz would be playing underneath light chatter and the occasional coffee grinder.


After taking this entire tour digitally and with the help of the constantly busy staff members of Politics and Prose, I had to wonder at the placement of all of these genres. As Brown wrote, “The story of objects asserting themselves as things, then, is the story of a changed relation to the human subject and thus the story of ho the thing really names less an object than a particular subject-object relation” (Brown, 4). In less convoluted terms, I believe there is something to be said for housing the sale books with the parenting and children’s books. Sale books tend to have that vibe that less people want them, or else they have seen better days on the market. Putting these books in the vicinity of children could simply have been strategic damage control. After all, if a child gets his or her hands on a sale book, far fewer people are going to worry about the condition of that book in the timeframe of the child picking it up and a parent quickly plucking it out of their hands. Likewise, having a coffee house in a bookshop always poses the potential for spilled drinks or scone crumbs getting near preciously valued books. If a sale book were to get blueberry muffin droppings on it, it would have less value than if it were on a pristine, gold-gilded book set of Shakespeare works.

I do wonder, however, if there is not more to this layout than initially meets the eye. Although both the original owners and the current owners have children (and some grandchildren), all of them are older and grown. Perhaps both sets of owners have a lesser tolerance for young children than they are willing to openly admit, and so decide to put that section of their bookstore downstairs. As Benjamin put it, “inheritance is the soundest way of acquiring a collection” (66). Perhaps when Graham and Muscatine took over Politics and Prose they also took on the original owners’ viewpoints and values for certain genres and clientele. After all, neither set of owners could avoid a children’s section altogether, given the family-filled demographic of the Chevy Chase neighborhood. An idea that I found quite interesting to come out of all of this is that, although they are delegated to the lower level of the store, the children still get their own history section. Clearly political topics are an encouraged reading subject by the owners of Politics and Prose, regardless of the age of their patrons.

 

Sources:

Text

Benjamin, Walter, Hannah Arendt, and Harry Zohn. Illuminations; Edited with an Introduction by Hannah Arendt. Translated by Harry Zohn. London: Cape, 1970. Print.

Brown, Bill. “Thing Theory.” Critical Inquiry 28.1 (2001): 1-22. JSTOR. Web. 2 Mar. 2016.

“Frequently Asked Questions.” Politics and Prose. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2016.

Muscatine, Lissa. “Coffeehouse Renovation Begins in January.” Politics and Prose. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2016.

Righthand, Jess. “Print Your Own Book at Politics & Prose.” Washington Post. The Washinton Post, 15 Dec. 2011. Web. 15 Mar. 2016.

 

Images:

“Politics and Prose.” Map. Google Maps. Google, July 2010. Web. 14 March 2016.

Torbati, Yeganeh June. “Bookstore in Capital Seeks Its Next Chapter.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 22 June 2010. Web. 17 Mar. 2016.

Slaughter-Graham, Nicole. “Eat and See Your Way Through Washington D.C. Like a Local.” Beyond Words: A Lifestyle Magazine Inspired by Sylvia Day. N.p., 02 Mar. 2016. Web. 18 Mar. 2016.

Unpacking the Inside of A Comic Book Giant

Since its humble beginnings, Mile High Comics has developed into the leader of the comic book industry, to which it boasts the largest collection of comic books in the world. It has four stores located in Denver, Colorado, including the largest of them; the mega-store on Jason Street. Inside the store there are thousands of comic books that have permeated throughout the large warehouse. Every time a first time buyer walks through the office and enters the gigantic building, individuals are awestruck by the sheer massiveness of the place. It really is the ideal place for any collector searching for a nerd haven.

Inside the bookstore, the comic books have been spread out in a peculiar pattern designed by the owner; Chuck Rozanski. Comic books are scattered throughout the store-some placed out, many others in boxes. I’m sure it can be overwhelming to anyone who doesn’t have a specific item they are searching for. On the top of multiple walls there are special edition comic books that have been posted to inside glass cases. In fact, there is 60,000 square feet within the mega-store, and 45,000 square feet of it is devoted to retail spacing. No matter where you turn, you will always find merchandise in your eyesight, and it is open seven days a week, making it consistently accessible to everyone.

On the wall closest to the entrance, and near the pay area, Rozanksi has put independent comics that have been created through Mile High Comics in a large glass case to proudly display and advertise homegrown creativity. Next to it, on the west side of the store, there are approximately 200,000 comics from the silver and bronze age for anyone in the market for older authentic comics from 1933-1982. These comics were purchased and moved to his stores by Rozanski in a blockbuster deal that helped make him the giant of the comic book industry that he is today. It is relatable to what James Clifford writes in his essay ‘On Collecting Art and Culture’, when he states “Authenticity, is produced by removing objects and customs from their current historical situation-a present becoming future” (228). Obviously, the older comics are very rare, and are no longer produced, giving Chuck Rozanski a monopoly in authentic comic books.  They are kept on a large display that is clearly one of the key highlights of the store that attracts collectors from all over the world. To see a video of the interior of the store, watch this:

But that isn’t even close to the amount of comics still inside the store, as Rozanski keeps about half a million comic books on tables’ setup in the middle of the store from the past 30 years. These are organized alphabetically, since they aren’t nearly as sought out by comic book enthusiasts, and are placed in boxes so any casual comic book fan can dig through the countless boxes to find what they are looking for. He also places comics alphabetically, so small press comics can get the same recognition as larger publishers. In addition, there are about one million more comics kept in the back of the store that isn’t assessable except by employees. That part of the store includes many lesser known small press comic books that aren’t kept on display. Even these sort of hidden articles of merchandise are hunted by collectors, and requests for comic books like these are frequent. This traces back to Walter Benjamin as he writes about collectors in his essay ‘Unpacking my Library’ “Naturally, his existence is tied to a very mysterious relationship to ownership…also, to a relationship to objects which does not emphasize their functional, utilitarian value-that is, their usefulness-but studies and loves them as a scene, the stage, of their fate” (60). For every comic book produced and given to the store to sell, there is someone out there looking to purchase and obtain that comic. It’s no wonder Mile High Comics has been thriving with such a passionate demographic.

Name brand comics, such as Star Wars and Star Trek, get their own sections devoted to themselves, and are prominently advertised throughout the store. The store sells out of popular comics like these quickly, especially comics printed within the past six months, which rushes them to replenish stock frequently. Mile High also places merchandise of famous publications all over the mega-store. In the middle of all the tables and boxes, there is even a children section that gives people at any age something to enjoy within the store. Mile High has more publications than any other store in the world, with over 100 feet worth of publications in the mega-store. Mile High has the largest selection of paperback comics in the world as well, kept neatly on shelves towards the back. Chuck Rozanski understands that there are collectors who are on a budget, and keeps around 100,000 comic books in the store for one dollar. He also has rare comics in lesser condition on tables for two dollars each. It’s fascinating that Rozanksi has been able to accomplish this without even borrowing any money to run the store, outside of the original mortgage on the warehouse.

There is a large space within the warehouse that has been set aside to for events. Rozanski holds auctions for people in his store to bid on more valuable objects, along with tournaments for various different games. He has guests well regarded within the comic book industry come into Mile High, giving the store another factor that places it out of a typical bookstore. Authors and comic book creators come in to sign autographs; which only attracts more fans into the store. In the very back of the bookstore, he keeps another 200,000 books on shelves that are so long that they contain 30,000 comics on one side alone. Here is a video of Chuck Rozanski planning an auction:

It is unique to see a part of the publishing industry netting so much profit, especially with Amazon taking over, but Mile High Comics has been able to stay ahead of the industry giant. In fact, Chuck Rozanski’s enterprise has continued progressing, with constant renovations under way to expand the store and produce more space to put products out. He gets shipments of new items every day that has escalated the amount of different publications sold beyond what anyone- even Chuck Rozanksi himself, can comprehend. To see a floor plan of the interior of the Mile High Comics mega-store, check out the floor plan:

 

 

 

Sources:

Images-

  1. http://www.milehighcomics.com/images/email/chuckatjswhwall.jpg

Floor Plan-

  1. http://i.ytimg.com/vi/8lSgsjhoNqE/maxresdefault.jpg
  2. http://www.milehighcomics.com/images/email/020713pano.jpg
  3. http://www.milehighcomics.com/images/email/fcbd2013pan.jpg
  4. http://www.milehighcomics.com/images/email/052913pano.jp
  5. http://milehighcomics.com/images/jason-interior-overhead-1-thumb.jpg

Texts-

  1. Clifford, James. “On Collecting Art and Culture.” (2012): 215-251 Print.
  2. Benjamin, Walter. ““Unpacking My Library”” Ed. Hannah Ardent. Trans. Harry Zohn. Illuminations 1 (2002): 59-67. Print.

Videos-

  1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k65zYbArejE
  2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcRVX9frLpk

Websites-

  1. http://www.thinglink.com/

 

 

 

A Collection of Culture: Eso Won Books

Eso Won Books has a relatively small retail space in the Leimert Park neighborhood of South Los Angeles. The store is composed of one open room with bookshelves lining the walls and smaller, freestanding cases in the center of the room. There are tables of magazines, children’s books, coffee table books, and other objects on the surrounding walls near the cash register. Eso Won Books relies on open spaces due to its participation in hosting book signings and lectures, which happen at a frequent rate. In these cases, the freestanding bookshelves are pushed aside to make room for the rows of plastic seats or for the lines of people awaiting a book signing.

There are many bookcases lining the wall, as well. These shelves hold books by genre. Many of the books face out, their spines are not showing, but their covers are. This gives the appearance that all of these books are important, rather than just the few that are, more often than not, facing out simply for the advertising like in many other bookstores. The books at Eso Won have their own personalities, their own values, and this is apparent with the type of shelving the owners, Tom Hamilton and James Fugate, have chosen.

The bookshelves are lined with small, yellow tape plaques that label the sections, drawing the customers in close to discover the genre of the books. This forces customers to peruse the sections of books, rather than go straight to what they are looking for. Eso Won does not employ the use of loud, flashy signs because they want their customers to stumble across books along the way. This way, a shopper could unexpectedly find an interesting title while looking for whichever book he or she came in for.

Not only does Eso Won stock shelves and shelves of books, it also sells other things. “Things,” as Bill Brown denotes, has a special connotation. He says, “The word designates the concrete yet ambiguous within the everyday” (Brown 4). In the case of Eso Won Books, these “concrete yet ambiguous” things are the objects separate from books, but still involved in the theme of Africana. There is a section of postcards and greeting cards with famous faces on them like Miles Davis and Aretha Franklin. There are DVDs, CDs, figurines, and other items, as well. These things are all related to the collection that Eso Won Books offers its customers.

The store specializes in African-American and Black culture, so the objects sold reflect that. It is this collection of items that truly designates Eso Won as a sort of peddler of a certain kind of cultural collection of literature. Customers go into Eso Won with the intention of buying or perusing books written by or about Black people. They browse the dully-labeled sections in search for another book for their collection. Walter Benjamin recounts this phenomenon in his piece, “Unpacking My Library.” He posits, “One only has to watch a collector handle the objects in his glass case. As he holds them in his hands, he seems to be seeing them through them into their distant past as though inspired” (Benjamin 61). At Eso Won, collectors are able to lift books from their shelves and feel that inspiration flow through them.

Another interesting aspect of Eso Won Books is the inability for someone (say, a student blogger whose project it is to describe the interior of the store) to discover the inside layout of the store. It is next to impossible to get a clear picture of what Eso Won Books looks like inside, which may be in part due to the many address changes, a certain sense of privacy, or maybe it is just the store’s way of bringing customers inside. Either way, it is clear that Eso Won is a place that beckons to be visited in person. The map below offers an outsider’s perspective of the layout of the store through research of photos and videos found online. With the sort of staccato images found, I pieced together a floor plan of the various sections where I posited they would be. This is just a hypothesis of the interior layout of the store.

In this hypothetical layout, it is apparent that the open layout works well with sensing the customer’s needs. From the register, clerks can guide shoppers to where they need to be. The bookcase-lined wall does not inhibit sight, so a question can be answered simply and efficiently throughout the small store.

Eso Won Books has a business model that stresses a kind of human interaction, but is also aware of the ever-changing market. Their website boasts, “It gives us immense pleasure to announce that we have added e-books to our online business model along with our regular selection of titles. Enjoy your online shopping experience and make it a point to come by the bookshop when you’re in town.” So, the store is acknowledging their descent into new technology while simultaneously reminding customers into come to the store as well.

In this ephemeral, technological society, bookstores are still a staple in the community, even though online shopping and ebooks are becoming more popular. There is still a very distinct sense of community in a bookstore, especially a specialty shop like Eso Won Books. This is a place that collectors can revel – a place that is owned by, and for the Black community of readers and collectors.

 

Sources

Images

http://www.kcet.org/socal/departures/assets_c/2014/03/Book-Rack-thumb-600×444-70606.jpg

http://www.kcet.org/socal/departures/youthvoices/EsoWon2b.jpg

Text

Benjamin, Walter, and Hannah Arendt. Illuminations. New York: Schocken Books, 1986.

Brown, Bill. Thing Theory. Illinois: The University of Chicago Press, 2001.

Websites

Thing Link: thinglink.com

Controlled Chaos: The Experience Within Shakespeare and Company

shakespeare-and-co-inside-1

With a place as famous and diverse as Shakespeare and Company, it seems to be a place you visit for the experience; plenty of buyers enter into the store, but an equal number of curious passersby cross the threshold for the “feel” of the store. Writers, even, seek refuge in the beds offered in order to use the space as an inspirational springboard. It is, without a doubt, a place with character, and that character is best seen in the visual space of the bookstore itself.

The independent shop is complex and mysterious, with certain realms off-limits to photography and the winding bookshelves hard to map. Therefore, compiling a list of book categories, inventory, or even a basic floor plan is difficult. This is far from a perfect description, but hopefully it at least captures the essence of the store, even if the exact map is off.

 

 

In general, the store is a maze of bookshelves. The old walls and wooden units create little boxes and hallways to wander through and explore. Some spaces are small and tight, crammed with literature, while others a slightly more open. But even in the “open” areas, only a few people can fit comfortably. For such a small venue, it seems odd that anyone could get lost within the shelves. But the layout of the store is so haphazard and organic that it feels like the store is constantly changing slightly; the way you came in may not be exactly the same when you leave. Even in photographs, it’s so hard to place where particular pictures were taken. Aside from the iconic green-lighted chandelier and metal well grate in the center of the floor right past the threshold, the rest of the photographs are unable to be accurately placed by someone who has never been there.

The second floor is similar in its arrangement, proving to be just as confusing. But with a bolded sign stating “Please No Photographs Upstairs”, it becomes nearly impossible to map anything. The second floor remains a mystery, with the exception of a small, tarnished piano tucked away in a corner of books.

shakespeare-coAside from the non-visible, part of the problem with mapping the store’s organization is that it is filled to bursting with books. Floor to ceiling bookshelves can’t contain the enormous quantity of texts housed in the old grocery. Piles accumulate on the floor at the base of shelves; tables are set up between shelves to display more stacks of books; there are shelves fit to the curve of the archway; one-book shelves are scattered about the few empty walls. Even the staircase serves as a makeshift shelf, with volumes stacked against the wall, propped up on the supporting slant, and shelves beneath the zig-zagging platform. Chairs, tables, and that piano hide some of the shelving space from view, keeping books hidden from view; because every single inch of space that can hold books is used, regardless of where it is or how easy it is to get to.

It is a kind of controlled chaos. As Walter Benjamin writes, “for what else is this collection but a disorder to which habit has accommodated itself to such an extent that it can appear as order?” (Benjamin, 60) The neatness of Barnes and Noble has no place here, as books are slanted in their shelves, while some volumes rest horizontally atop the vertical-spine rows. It is clearly a place where books are taken and gathered, placed and replaced. Yet among the haphazard stacks, books are cluster together with their fellow copies. Their covers, when placed together, draw the consumer’s eye and serve as a reprieve from the initial overwhelming nature of the store. And in a space with so many books, a more specific form of organization seems nearly impossible. In many ways, I believe a more organized space is unwanted. The organic give-and-take nature and sprawling piles depict the “tumbleweed” atmosphere Whitman encourage more so than anything else.

DSC01184The store does, however, attempts to fabricate a stronger sense of order. Section categories are scribbled on small slips of white paper and taped to the wood of the selves; you need to be right up close in order to read the headings. Occasionally, subjects are displayed on larger signs, like the Drama and Philosophy sections. But their signs are hidden amidst the collections; the faded, hand-painted “DRAMA” on the gold background— tilted vertically and only about the height of a small shelf—is easily glanced over in the sea of colorful spines. For the books near the ceiling, one wonders if you’re even supposed to see those at all. While there are a few ladders sprinkled around the store, they are old and rickety. And some spots, like the books above the archway, seem impossible to get to, even with the assistance of a ladder.

The walls are not just for books, however. In the few empty spaces, bulletin boards display notes, flyers, letters, and photos. Numerous mirrors of all different shapes and sizes are hung on the ends of bookshelves. While they may intend to create the illusion of a more empty space, they also give the passerby a chance to see themselves within the horde of literature and provide a moment’s reflection (literally) on their experience in that moment. A few framed photographs and paintings hang at the very top of the wall in whatever free space is left. Between the mirrors, the books, the boards, and the art, you have to search hard for bare walls. And with so much going on, your eye never ceases to wander around every inch of the store; you will always discover something new with every glance.

bed-in-shakespeare-bookstore

Copies of Notre Dame de Paris are sold as quickly as they come in; not a huge surprise given that the store is just across the river from the famous cathedral. Ulysses is another popular purchase, given the original store’s connection to the first publications. Clearly, French literature is also a popular category, both English-translation texts and originals. Shakespeare’s works, given the name of the store, are also top-sellers. Finding these top selections, however, can be challenging.

Despite the popularity of particular volumes, this is by no means a specialized bookstore. Shakespeare and Company caters to all forms of literature, from bilingual to historical to children’s to young adult. The first in Anthony Horowitz’s Alex Rider series sit cover-out next to an academic analysis from Columbia University. Children’s book, literary magazines, and cook books all share the same floor space upstairs. Dance faces Portrait of a Spy. The store will buy anything and sell anything, an inventory that reflects its open-door policy. Their acceptance of any and all books is also an example of Benjamin’s assertion that “the acquisition of books is by no means a matter of money or expert knowledge alone.” (63) Whitman began the bookstore without money in mind, and the growing collection demonstrates their willingness to buy anything which can be read. Shakespeare and Company, overflowing with so many books already, collects for the thrill of collecting and not for the monetary gain.

With all of the books on so many different topics, there is a contradictory sense in the store that this isn’t a place you enter into “looking” for something to buy; again, this is not a place established for the sole purpose of gaining money. Whereas one may storm to Barnes and Noble on a mission for a particular text, Shakespeare and Company is a place to meander and peruse. Entering into the shop with a set title in mind will only heighten the overwhelming experience and create frustration. Instead, the jumbled piles, towering shelves, and secretive categories mix to create an experience based on purposeless searching. One is suppose to enjoy being surrounded and drown in the sea of books, absorbing the atmosphere of literature through smell, touch, sight, and hearing. It is a place renowned for the literary experience, not for the literary business.

 

kaiSr

 

 

Sources

 

 

Photographs in Post:

Opening photo: http://travellingbookjunkie.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/shakespeare-and-co-inside-1.jpg

Green chair: http://i.imgur.com/kaiSr.jpg

Bed: http://www.miragebookmark.ch/images/bed-in-shakespeare-bookstore.jpg

Green Chandelier: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nqh4tKxlGSk/UPyGkv9cHII/AAAAAAAACJI/8Ex2ZIc3cU4/s1600/DSC01184.JPG

Piano: http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/02/37/26/65/shakespeare-co.jpg

 Photographs in Floorplan:

Photograph in separate hallway: http://amandas-assorted-ramblings.blogspot.com/2010/09/bookshops-paris.html

Well and Green Chandelier: http://www.boat-mag.com/2013/03/21/up-my-street-shakespeare-company-rue-de-la-bucherie-paris/

Staircase from side: http://readingaddicts.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/shakespeare-and-company-paris-stairs.jpg

Books on staircase: http://www.ttwith.com.img.800cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/img_0632.jpg

Staircase from top: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7094/7056680479_d2e1a64949.jpg

Panorama in center room: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/03_Shakes

Store from Threshold: http://guidepal.blob.core.windows.net/article-mainimages/aph

Storefront: http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2004/2071504886_5ac88a39dc.jpg

Floorplan

Braun, Markus Sebastian. “Shakespeare and Company.” Book Shops: Long-established and the Most Fashionable. Salenstein: Braun, 2012. 156. Print.

www.thinglink.com provided the program to insert photographs and tags.

 

Textual citations

 

Benjamin, Walter. “Unpacking My Library”. Illuminations. Shocken Books: New  York. 59-67. Print.