Jean-Luc Nancy
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- March 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780823230365
- eISBN:
- 9780823235476
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fso/9780823230365.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind
This book concerns the particular communication of thoughts that takes place by means of the business of writing, producing, and selling books. The author's reflection is born out of his relation to ...
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This book concerns the particular communication of thoughts that takes place by means of the business of writing, producing, and selling books. The author's reflection is born out of his relation to the bookstore, in the first place his neighborhood one, but beyond that any such “perfumery, rotisserie, patisserie,” as he calls them; dispensaries “of scents and flavors through which something like a fragrance or bouquet of the book is divined, presumed, sensed.” The book is thus not only something of a semiology of the specific cultural practice that begins with the unique character of the writer's voice and culminates in a customer crossing the bookstore threshold, package under arm, on the way home to a comfortable chair, but also an understated yet persuasive plea in favor of an endangered species. In evoking the peddler who, in times past, plied the streets with books and pamphlets literally hanging off him, the author emphasizes the sensuality of this commerce and reminds us that this form of consumerism is like no other, one that ends in an experience—reading—that is the beginning of a limitless dispersion, metamorphosis, and dissemination of ideas. Making, selling, and buying books has all the elements of the exchange economy that Marx analyzed—from commodification to fetishism—yet each book retains throughout an absolute and unique value, that of its subject. With reading, it gets repeatedly reprinted and rebound. For the author, the book thus functions only if it remains at the same time open and shut, like some Moebius strip. Closed, it represents the idea and takes its place in a canon by means of its monumental form and the title and author's name displayed on its spine. But it also opens itself to us, indeed consents to being shaken to its core, in being read each time anew.Less
This book concerns the particular communication of thoughts that takes place by means of the business of writing, producing, and selling books. The author's reflection is born out of his relation to the bookstore, in the first place his neighborhood one, but beyond that any such “perfumery, rotisserie, patisserie,” as he calls them; dispensaries “of scents and flavors through which something like a fragrance or bouquet of the book is divined, presumed, sensed.” The book is thus not only something of a semiology of the specific cultural practice that begins with the unique character of the writer's voice and culminates in a customer crossing the bookstore threshold, package under arm, on the way home to a comfortable chair, but also an understated yet persuasive plea in favor of an endangered species. In evoking the peddler who, in times past, plied the streets with books and pamphlets literally hanging off him, the author emphasizes the sensuality of this commerce and reminds us that this form of consumerism is like no other, one that ends in an experience—reading—that is the beginning of a limitless dispersion, metamorphosis, and dissemination of ideas. Making, selling, and buying books has all the elements of the exchange economy that Marx analyzed—from commodification to fetishism—yet each book retains throughout an absolute and unique value, that of its subject. With reading, it gets repeatedly reprinted and rebound. For the author, the book thus functions only if it remains at the same time open and shut, like some Moebius strip. Closed, it represents the idea and takes its place in a canon by means of its monumental form and the title and author's name displayed on its spine. But it also opens itself to us, indeed consents to being shaken to its core, in being read each time anew.
Jean-Luc Nancy
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- March 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780823230365
- eISBN:
- 9780823235476
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fso/9780823230365.003.0008
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind
The bookstore is a perfumery, rotisserie, patisserie: a dispensary of scents and flavors through which something like a fragrance or bouquet of the book is divined, presumed, sensed. It is where one ...
More
The bookstore is a perfumery, rotisserie, patisserie: a dispensary of scents and flavors through which something like a fragrance or bouquet of the book is divined, presumed, sensed. It is where one gives oneself or finds an idea of the book's Idea, a sketch, an allusion, a suggestion. The bookstore opens to the reader the general space of all kinds of opening, furtive glance, brief shedding of light or illumination, drilling, prospecting, sifting, fine-tooth combing, sampling, or summary. It is always a matter of unbinding the tie that holds the volume together and of letting it breathe, puff for a second, a matter also of having it lose its sufficiency and consistency enough so that it can be found only in the zealousness or nonchalance of the fingers that turn its pages.Less
The bookstore is a perfumery, rotisserie, patisserie: a dispensary of scents and flavors through which something like a fragrance or bouquet of the book is divined, presumed, sensed. It is where one gives oneself or finds an idea of the book's Idea, a sketch, an allusion, a suggestion. The bookstore opens to the reader the general space of all kinds of opening, furtive glance, brief shedding of light or illumination, drilling, prospecting, sifting, fine-tooth combing, sampling, or summary. It is always a matter of unbinding the tie that holds the volume together and of letting it breathe, puff for a second, a matter also of having it lose its sufficiency and consistency enough so that it can be found only in the zealousness or nonchalance of the fingers that turn its pages.
Jean-Luc Nancy
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- March 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780823230365
- eISBN:
- 9780823235476
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fso/9780823230365.003.0009
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind
The book always and only goes from Idea to Idea. Its opening, its enlivened and loosened pages—followed from right to left and from top to bottom, or in the opposite directions and following every ...
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The book always and only goes from Idea to Idea. Its opening, its enlivened and loosened pages—followed from right to left and from top to bottom, or in the opposite directions and following every possible combination—its patient and meticulous readings as well as its greedy and hurried ones, its studies, commentaries, glosses, analyses, plagiarisms and parodies, only spread ever more widely, ever more impalpably, the substance of its Idea, which ends up losing itself by finding itself metamorphosed, metempsychosed, or metaphorized into other books, into innumerable volumes, booklets, lampoons, essays, pamphlets, opuscules become volumes themselves once more, folios, quartos, octavos, into indefinitely multiplied issues that disperse into the air the dust of sense and ashes of the Idea, an Idea in ashes not for having been put on the pyre, but for having been liberally scattered into the vast cosmos through which shines the star shower of the Idea.Less
The book always and only goes from Idea to Idea. Its opening, its enlivened and loosened pages—followed from right to left and from top to bottom, or in the opposite directions and following every possible combination—its patient and meticulous readings as well as its greedy and hurried ones, its studies, commentaries, glosses, analyses, plagiarisms and parodies, only spread ever more widely, ever more impalpably, the substance of its Idea, which ends up losing itself by finding itself metamorphosed, metempsychosed, or metaphorized into other books, into innumerable volumes, booklets, lampoons, essays, pamphlets, opuscules become volumes themselves once more, folios, quartos, octavos, into indefinitely multiplied issues that disperse into the air the dust of sense and ashes of the Idea, an Idea in ashes not for having been put on the pyre, but for having been liberally scattered into the vast cosmos through which shines the star shower of the Idea.
Clayton Childress
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780691160382
- eISBN:
- 9781400885275
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691160382.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Comparative and Historical Sociology
This book follows the life trajectory of a single work of fiction from its initial inspiration to its reception by reviewers and readers. The subject is Jarrettsville, a historical novel by Cornelia ...
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This book follows the life trajectory of a single work of fiction from its initial inspiration to its reception by reviewers and readers. The subject is Jarrettsville, a historical novel by Cornelia Nixon, which was published in 2009 and based on an actual murder committed by an ancestor of Nixon's in the postbellum South. The book takes you behind the scenes to examine how Jarrettsville was shepherded across three interdependent fields—authoring, publishing, and reading—and how it was transformed by its journey. Along the way, it covers all aspects of the life of a book, including the author's creative process, the role of literary agents, how editors decide which books to acquire, how publishers build lists and distinguish themselves from other publishers, how they sell a book to stores and publicize it, and how authors choose their next projects. The author looks at how books get selected for the front tables in bookstores, why reviewers and readers can draw such different meanings from the same novel, and how book groups across the country make sense of a novel and what it means to them. This book reveals how decisions are made, inequalities are reproduced, and novels are built to travel in the creation, production, and consumption of culture.Less
This book follows the life trajectory of a single work of fiction from its initial inspiration to its reception by reviewers and readers. The subject is Jarrettsville, a historical novel by Cornelia Nixon, which was published in 2009 and based on an actual murder committed by an ancestor of Nixon's in the postbellum South. The book takes you behind the scenes to examine how Jarrettsville was shepherded across three interdependent fields—authoring, publishing, and reading—and how it was transformed by its journey. Along the way, it covers all aspects of the life of a book, including the author's creative process, the role of literary agents, how editors decide which books to acquire, how publishers build lists and distinguish themselves from other publishers, how they sell a book to stores and publicize it, and how authors choose their next projects. The author looks at how books get selected for the front tables in bookstores, why reviewers and readers can draw such different meanings from the same novel, and how book groups across the country make sense of a novel and what it means to them. This book reveals how decisions are made, inequalities are reproduced, and novels are built to travel in the creation, production, and consumption of culture.
Joshua Clark Davis
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780231171588
- eISBN:
- 9780231543088
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231171588.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Economic History
In the 1960s and ’70s, a diverse range of storefronts—including head shops, African American bookstores, feminist businesses, and organic grocers—brought the work of the New Left, Black Power, ...
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In the 1960s and ’70s, a diverse range of storefronts—including head shops, African American bookstores, feminist businesses, and organic grocers—brought the work of the New Left, Black Power, feminism, environmentalism, and other movements into the marketplace. Through shared ownership, limited growth, and democratic workplaces, these activist entrepreneurs offered alternatives to conventional profit-driven corporate business models. By the middle of the 1970s, thousands of these enterprises operated across the United States—but only a handful survive today. Some, such as Whole Foods Market, have abandoned their quest for collective political change in favor of maximizing profits. Vividly portraying the struggles, successes, and sacrifices of these unlikely entrepreneurs, From Head Shops to Whole Foods writes a new history of social movements and capitalism by showing how activists embraced small businesses in a way few historians have considered. The book challenges the widespread but mistaken idea that activism and political dissent are inherently antithetical to participation in the marketplace. Joshua Clark Davis uncovers the historical roots of contemporary interest in ethical consumption, social enterprise, buying local, and mission-driven business, while also showing how today’s companies have adopted the language—but not often the mission—of liberation and social change.Less
In the 1960s and ’70s, a diverse range of storefronts—including head shops, African American bookstores, feminist businesses, and organic grocers—brought the work of the New Left, Black Power, feminism, environmentalism, and other movements into the marketplace. Through shared ownership, limited growth, and democratic workplaces, these activist entrepreneurs offered alternatives to conventional profit-driven corporate business models. By the middle of the 1970s, thousands of these enterprises operated across the United States—but only a handful survive today. Some, such as Whole Foods Market, have abandoned their quest for collective political change in favor of maximizing profits. Vividly portraying the struggles, successes, and sacrifices of these unlikely entrepreneurs, From Head Shops to Whole Foods writes a new history of social movements and capitalism by showing how activists embraced small businesses in a way few historians have considered. The book challenges the widespread but mistaken idea that activism and political dissent are inherently antithetical to participation in the marketplace. Joshua Clark Davis uncovers the historical roots of contemporary interest in ethical consumption, social enterprise, buying local, and mission-driven business, while also showing how today’s companies have adopted the language—but not often the mission—of liberation and social change.
Laura J. Miller
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226525907
- eISBN:
- 9780226525921
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226525921.003.0008
- Subject:
- Sociology, Organizations
This chapter examines how some people outside the ranks of book professionals have taken action against the spread of large-scale, rationalized bookselling in the U.S. It looks at the activism on the ...
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This chapter examines how some people outside the ranks of book professionals have taken action against the spread of large-scale, rationalized bookselling in the U.S. It looks at the activism on the part of two groups: low-level workers at bookstores and residents of communities or citizen-consumers experiencing a changing bookselling environment. This chapter also describes the campaign launched by these groups against chain bookstores and the support they provided to struggling independent bookstores.Less
This chapter examines how some people outside the ranks of book professionals have taken action against the spread of large-scale, rationalized bookselling in the U.S. It looks at the activism on the part of two groups: low-level workers at bookstores and residents of communities or citizen-consumers experiencing a changing bookselling environment. This chapter also describes the campaign launched by these groups against chain bookstores and the support they provided to struggling independent bookstores.
Jaime Harker
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781469643359
- eISBN:
- 9781469643373
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469643359.003.0006
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century Literature and Modernism
The conclusion considers some of the legacies of the Women in Print movement and the Southern lesbian feminists who animated it, by considering contemporary examples of small press publishing and ...
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The conclusion considers some of the legacies of the Women in Print movement and the Southern lesbian feminists who animated it, by considering contemporary examples of small press publishing and queer distribution networks.Less
The conclusion considers some of the legacies of the Women in Print movement and the Southern lesbian feminists who animated it, by considering contemporary examples of small press publishing and queer distribution networks.
Erin A. Smith
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781469621326
- eISBN:
- 9781469621340
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469621326.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
This chapter examines how readers engaged with Hal Lindsey's The Late Great Planet Earth and the debates surrounding it. The Late Great Planet Earth was explicitly marketed to two distinct ...
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This chapter examines how readers engaged with Hal Lindsey's The Late Great Planet Earth and the debates surrounding it. The Late Great Planet Earth was explicitly marketed to two distinct audiences—evangelical and trade—in two distinct packages. Zondervan sold it alongside other books on Bible prophecy in Christian bookstores, while Bantam issued an edition with a New Age/science fiction cover to capture the attention of secular readers in trade bookstores. Drawing on reviews on Amazon and other accounts from readers, the chapter considers the notion that the politics of The Late Great Planet Earth can be deduced from the words on the page. It suggests that readers who encountered The Late Great Planet Earth through the lens of millennial anxieties about the nuclear arms race and environmental degradation also read for personal reasons.Less
This chapter examines how readers engaged with Hal Lindsey's The Late Great Planet Earth and the debates surrounding it. The Late Great Planet Earth was explicitly marketed to two distinct audiences—evangelical and trade—in two distinct packages. Zondervan sold it alongside other books on Bible prophecy in Christian bookstores, while Bantam issued an edition with a New Age/science fiction cover to capture the attention of secular readers in trade bookstores. Drawing on reviews on Amazon and other accounts from readers, the chapter considers the notion that the politics of The Late Great Planet Earth can be deduced from the words on the page. It suggests that readers who encountered The Late Great Planet Earth through the lens of millennial anxieties about the nuclear arms race and environmental degradation also read for personal reasons.
Laura J. Miller
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226525907
- eISBN:
- 9780226525921
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226525921.003.0005
- Subject:
- Sociology, Organizations
This chapter focuses on the history of multifunction bookstore in the U.S. designed to entertain customers. This trend was pioneered by independent bookstores in the 1980s and later reproduced by ...
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This chapter focuses on the history of multifunction bookstore in the U.S. designed to entertain customers. This trend was pioneered by independent bookstores in the 1980s and later reproduced by bookstore chains in a much larger scale that offer food and drink, educational events, and a much needed public space. This chapter analyzes the circumstances within the book trade and within American society more generally that produced this phenomenon.Less
This chapter focuses on the history of multifunction bookstore in the U.S. designed to entertain customers. This trend was pioneered by independent bookstores in the 1980s and later reproduced by bookstore chains in a much larger scale that offer food and drink, educational events, and a much needed public space. This chapter analyzes the circumstances within the book trade and within American society more generally that produced this phenomenon.
Daphne Spain
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801453199
- eISBN:
- 9781501704130
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801453199.003.0004
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Gender Studies
This chapter examines how feminist bookstores revealed multidimensional and complex female identities that could transform women’s sense of self. These bookstores were often an outgrowth of women’s ...
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This chapter examines how feminist bookstores revealed multidimensional and complex female identities that could transform women’s sense of self. These bookstores were often an outgrowth of women’s center libraries, carrying with them it the mission to serve the women’s community. Feminist bookstores collected, in one place, a diverse array of publications that spoke to multiple and overlapping groups. Just one or two books were insufficient for the task; it took stacks of books, what the scholar Kristen Hogan calls “the feminist shelf,” to represent the relationships among race, gender, ethnicity, sexual preference, motherhood, and the myriad other ways in which women define themselves.Less
This chapter examines how feminist bookstores revealed multidimensional and complex female identities that could transform women’s sense of self. These bookstores were often an outgrowth of women’s center libraries, carrying with them it the mission to serve the women’s community. Feminist bookstores collected, in one place, a diverse array of publications that spoke to multiple and overlapping groups. Just one or two books were insufficient for the task; it took stacks of books, what the scholar Kristen Hogan calls “the feminist shelf,” to represent the relationships among race, gender, ethnicity, sexual preference, motherhood, and the myriad other ways in which women define themselves.
Laura J. Miller
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226525907
- eISBN:
- 9780226525921
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226525921.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Organizations
Over the past half-century, bookselling, like many retail industries, has evolved from an arena dominated by independent bookstores to one in which chain stores have significant market share. And as ...
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Over the past half-century, bookselling, like many retail industries, has evolved from an arena dominated by independent bookstores to one in which chain stores have significant market share. And as in other areas of retail, this transformation has often been a less-than-smooth process. This has been especially pronounced in bookselling, this book argues, because more than most other consumer goods, books are the focus of passionate debate. What drives that debate? And why do so many people believe that bookselling should be immune to questions of profit? This book looks at a century of book retailing, demonstrating that the independent/chain dynamic is not entirely new. It began one hundred years ago when department stores began selling books, continued through the 1960s with the emergence of national chain stores, and exploded with the formation of “superstores” in the 1990s. The advent of the Internet has further spurred tremendous changes in how booksellers approach their business. All of these changes have met resistance from book professionals and readers who believe that the book business should somehow be “above” market forces and instead embrace more noble priorities. The book uses interviews with bookstore customers and members of the book industry to explain why books evoke such distinct and heated reactions. It reveals why customers have such fierce loyalty to certain bookstores and why they identify so strongly with different types of books. In the process, this book also teases out the meanings of retailing and consumption in American culture at large.Less
Over the past half-century, bookselling, like many retail industries, has evolved from an arena dominated by independent bookstores to one in which chain stores have significant market share. And as in other areas of retail, this transformation has often been a less-than-smooth process. This has been especially pronounced in bookselling, this book argues, because more than most other consumer goods, books are the focus of passionate debate. What drives that debate? And why do so many people believe that bookselling should be immune to questions of profit? This book looks at a century of book retailing, demonstrating that the independent/chain dynamic is not entirely new. It began one hundred years ago when department stores began selling books, continued through the 1960s with the emergence of national chain stores, and exploded with the formation of “superstores” in the 1990s. The advent of the Internet has further spurred tremendous changes in how booksellers approach their business. All of these changes have met resistance from book professionals and readers who believe that the book business should somehow be “above” market forces and instead embrace more noble priorities. The book uses interviews with bookstore customers and members of the book industry to explain why books evoke such distinct and heated reactions. It reveals why customers have such fierce loyalty to certain bookstores and why they identify so strongly with different types of books. In the process, this book also teases out the meanings of retailing and consumption in American culture at large.
Jason Rosenhouse
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199744633
- eISBN:
- 9780190267827
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199744633.003.0032
- Subject:
- Biology, Ecology
In this chapter, the author shares interesting stories that took place at the bookstore during the Sixth International Conference on Creationism, held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in August 2008. The ...
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In this chapter, the author shares interesting stories that took place at the bookstore during the Sixth International Conference on Creationism, held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in August 2008. The ICC's bookstore, according to the organizers, was the largest collection of creationist materials ever assembled. On the second day of the ICC, a young man approached the author in the bookstore. He asked the young man why he was a creationist, and the latter answered that he came to Christ when he was twelve, but gave no thought to the evolution question until several years later. When he heard a sermon at his church discussing the issue from a creationist perspective, he concluded that the creationists had the better arguments. The author also recalls having a conversation at the same bookstore with one of his students. Finally, he cites sociologist Elaine Howard Ecklund's 2010 study in which she surveyed scientists' beliefs about God compared to all Americans.Less
In this chapter, the author shares interesting stories that took place at the bookstore during the Sixth International Conference on Creationism, held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in August 2008. The ICC's bookstore, according to the organizers, was the largest collection of creationist materials ever assembled. On the second day of the ICC, a young man approached the author in the bookstore. He asked the young man why he was a creationist, and the latter answered that he came to Christ when he was twelve, but gave no thought to the evolution question until several years later. When he heard a sermon at his church discussing the issue from a creationist perspective, he concluded that the creationists had the better arguments. The author also recalls having a conversation at the same bookstore with one of his students. Finally, he cites sociologist Elaine Howard Ecklund's 2010 study in which she surveyed scientists' beliefs about God compared to all Americans.
Erin A. Smith
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781469621326
- eISBN:
- 9781469621340
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469621326.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
This chapter examines the field of religious publishing in the 1970s and early 1980s by focusing on Hal Lindsey and C. C. Carlson's The Late Great Planet Earth (1970), a layperson's guide to ...
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This chapter examines the field of religious publishing in the 1970s and early 1980s by focusing on Hal Lindsey and C. C. Carlson's The Late Great Planet Earth (1970), a layperson's guide to end-times prophecy, and placing it in its evangelical cultures of letters. Drawing on coverage of religious books in Publishers Weekly and in the religious periodicals Christian Century (liberal Protestant) and Christianity Today (evangelical), it considers how The Late Great Planet Earth became a blockbuster bestseller through its accessible, engaging presentation free of esoteric theology and difficult religious jargon; its appeal to a new, nondenominational youth audience; and its innovative marketing. It also looks at the controversy surrounding the non-inclusion of The Late Great Planet Earth in any bestseller list—despite the fact that it was the best-selling book of the 1970s—because it sold primarily through Christian bookstores.Less
This chapter examines the field of religious publishing in the 1970s and early 1980s by focusing on Hal Lindsey and C. C. Carlson's The Late Great Planet Earth (1970), a layperson's guide to end-times prophecy, and placing it in its evangelical cultures of letters. Drawing on coverage of religious books in Publishers Weekly and in the religious periodicals Christian Century (liberal Protestant) and Christianity Today (evangelical), it considers how The Late Great Planet Earth became a blockbuster bestseller through its accessible, engaging presentation free of esoteric theology and difficult religious jargon; its appeal to a new, nondenominational youth audience; and its innovative marketing. It also looks at the controversy surrounding the non-inclusion of The Late Great Planet Earth in any bestseller list—despite the fact that it was the best-selling book of the 1970s—because it sold primarily through Christian bookstores.
Laura J. Miller
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226525907
- eISBN:
- 9780226525921
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226525921.003.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Organizations
This introductory chapter discusses the history of bookselling and the book trade in the U.S. It addresses the question of how book professionals position themselves in relation to some general ...
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This introductory chapter discusses the history of bookselling and the book trade in the U.S. It addresses the question of how book professionals position themselves in relation to some general principles of capitalism, including competition, profitability, growth, efficiency, and impersonality. This chapter also traces the evolution of bookselling from independent bookstores to chain stores. It also explores the design of standard and multifunction bookstores and bookseller activism.Less
This introductory chapter discusses the history of bookselling and the book trade in the U.S. It addresses the question of how book professionals position themselves in relation to some general principles of capitalism, including competition, profitability, growth, efficiency, and impersonality. This chapter also traces the evolution of bookselling from independent bookstores to chain stores. It also explores the design of standard and multifunction bookstores and bookseller activism.
Laura J. Miller
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226525907
- eISBN:
- 9780226525921
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226525921.003.0002
- Subject:
- Sociology, Organizations
This chapter examines the evolution of bookselling in the U.S. since the Civil War. It shows how the retail scene evolved from a highly decentralized group of small booksellers and marginal ...
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This chapter examines the evolution of bookselling in the U.S. since the Civil War. It shows how the retail scene evolved from a highly decentralized group of small booksellers and marginal wholesalers to one dominated by large chains and national distributors employing sophisticated managerial and merchandising techniques to rationalize their work. This chapter suggests that the bookstore chains not only led or institutionalized significant changes within the book industry, but they helped to alter Americans' perceptions of bookstores and book buying.Less
This chapter examines the evolution of bookselling in the U.S. since the Civil War. It shows how the retail scene evolved from a highly decentralized group of small booksellers and marginal wholesalers to one dominated by large chains and national distributors employing sophisticated managerial and merchandising techniques to rationalize their work. This chapter suggests that the bookstore chains not only led or institutionalized significant changes within the book industry, but they helped to alter Americans' perceptions of bookstores and book buying.
Laura J. Miller
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226525907
- eISBN:
- 9780226525921
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226525921.003.0004
- Subject:
- Sociology, Organizations
This chapter examines the history of designing bookstores in the U.S. It investigates how standardization became an important aspect of bookstore chains' efforts to rationalize bookselling. The ...
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This chapter examines the history of designing bookstores in the U.S. It investigates how standardization became an important aspect of bookstore chains' efforts to rationalize bookselling. The chapter also discusses the economic and cultural significance of bookstore design, as well as the creation of book displays. This chapter also explains how the construction of identical book outlets benefited the chains by making available economies of scale and by contributing to the chains' populist image.Less
This chapter examines the history of designing bookstores in the U.S. It investigates how standardization became an important aspect of bookstore chains' efforts to rationalize bookselling. The chapter also discusses the economic and cultural significance of bookstore design, as well as the creation of book displays. This chapter also explains how the construction of identical book outlets benefited the chains by making available economies of scale and by contributing to the chains' populist image.
Albert N. Greco
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- April 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780190626235
- eISBN:
- 9780190626266
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190626235.003.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Financial Economics
The importance of the publishing and dissemination of scholarly books and journals remains secure since this process is pivotal to the life blood of academic research. However, the process of ...
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The importance of the publishing and dissemination of scholarly books and journals remains secure since this process is pivotal to the life blood of academic research. However, the process of scholarly publishing and dissemination in the United States has undergone a series of major substantive developments that have, in many instances, improved the quality and dissemination of content and, in a few cases, impacted negatively on this ecosystem. This chapter provides an analysis of key developments in the scholarly publishing sector, including growth in the number of US colleges and the impact on scholarly publishing output and libraries; concentration in the commercial publishing industry; and changes in both industry employment (and diversity) and the number of bookstores.Less
The importance of the publishing and dissemination of scholarly books and journals remains secure since this process is pivotal to the life blood of academic research. However, the process of scholarly publishing and dissemination in the United States has undergone a series of major substantive developments that have, in many instances, improved the quality and dissemination of content and, in a few cases, impacted negatively on this ecosystem. This chapter provides an analysis of key developments in the scholarly publishing sector, including growth in the number of US colleges and the impact on scholarly publishing output and libraries; concentration in the commercial publishing industry; and changes in both industry employment (and diversity) and the number of bookstores.
Joshua Clark Davis
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780231171588
- eISBN:
- 9780231543088
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231171588.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, Economic History
Chapter two examines Black-Power activists who founded scores of bookstores throughout the country in the 1960s and ‘70s, hoping to prompt both a “revolution of the mind” and a transformation of ...
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Chapter two examines Black-Power activists who founded scores of bookstores throughout the country in the 1960s and ‘70s, hoping to prompt both a “revolution of the mind” and a transformation of business culture in black communities. These activists hailed bookstores as information centers where African American community members could meet to learn about and agitate for radical movements for racial equality and black progress. African American booksellers’ sought to further the work of the Black Power movement by affirming racial pride, celebrating black history and identity, and promoting connections to and interest in Africa. As Black Power declined over the course of the 1970s, however, black bookstores were compelled to deal in an ever broader range of black-authored written works, many of them less political in nature.Less
Chapter two examines Black-Power activists who founded scores of bookstores throughout the country in the 1960s and ‘70s, hoping to prompt both a “revolution of the mind” and a transformation of business culture in black communities. These activists hailed bookstores as information centers where African American community members could meet to learn about and agitate for radical movements for racial equality and black progress. African American booksellers’ sought to further the work of the Black Power movement by affirming racial pride, celebrating black history and identity, and promoting connections to and interest in Africa. As Black Power declined over the course of the 1970s, however, black bookstores were compelled to deal in an ever broader range of black-authored written works, many of them less political in nature.
Paul N. Courant
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231160155
- eISBN:
- 9780231504324
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231160155.003.0031
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Public and Welfare
In 2004, Google embarked on a historic project to scan and index the contents of the world’s great research libraries. However, the authors and publishers of works in copyright sued, arguing that ...
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In 2004, Google embarked on a historic project to scan and index the contents of the world’s great research libraries. However, the authors and publishers of works in copyright sued, arguing that Google violated copyright law by scanning works without the explicit permission of rights holders. The proposed settlement greatly expanded the stakes, creating a great electronic bookstore where Google would sell (with most of the revenue going to rights holders) access to millions of copyrighted works, something not contemplated in Google’s original scanning project. Before the settlement was approved by the court, it asked the parties for an opportunity to revise the settlement agreement in light of concerns raised by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and hundreds of other objectors. This chapter argues that approval of the original settlement would have been vastly preferable to its rejection, because it provided extraordinary and valuable benefits to readers and scholars. But, in at least one important feature, the DOJ may be pointing the way to a settlement that would be better than the original. The DOJ has expressed concern that the settlement, “appears to create a dangerous probability that only Google would have the ability to market to libraries and other institutions a comprehensive digital-book subscription”.Less
In 2004, Google embarked on a historic project to scan and index the contents of the world’s great research libraries. However, the authors and publishers of works in copyright sued, arguing that Google violated copyright law by scanning works without the explicit permission of rights holders. The proposed settlement greatly expanded the stakes, creating a great electronic bookstore where Google would sell (with most of the revenue going to rights holders) access to millions of copyrighted works, something not contemplated in Google’s original scanning project. Before the settlement was approved by the court, it asked the parties for an opportunity to revise the settlement agreement in light of concerns raised by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and hundreds of other objectors. This chapter argues that approval of the original settlement would have been vastly preferable to its rejection, because it provided extraordinary and valuable benefits to readers and scholars. But, in at least one important feature, the DOJ may be pointing the way to a settlement that would be better than the original. The DOJ has expressed concern that the settlement, “appears to create a dangerous probability that only Google would have the ability to market to libraries and other institutions a comprehensive digital-book subscription”.
Michael V. Metz
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780252042416
- eISBN:
- 9780252051258
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5622/illinois/9780252042416.003.0034
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Movements and Social Change
Spring began with protests against defense contractor General Electric’s campus recruiting, and after an RU rally students turned violent, breaking windows in the building housing recruiters. Crowds ...
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Spring began with protests against defense contractor General Electric’s campus recruiting, and after an RU rally students turned violent, breaking windows in the building housing recruiters. Crowds massed in Green Street and police cleared them, but at night crowds again broke windows on the quad. The next day trustees canceled a William Kunstler speech; angry students stormed Green Street, breaking windows in several stores. Governor Ogilvie called out 750 National Guardsmen, every one needed to control crowds on a third night of rioting. Only a minority of students turned violent, but frustration was high.Less
Spring began with protests against defense contractor General Electric’s campus recruiting, and after an RU rally students turned violent, breaking windows in the building housing recruiters. Crowds massed in Green Street and police cleared them, but at night crowds again broke windows on the quad. The next day trustees canceled a William Kunstler speech; angry students stormed Green Street, breaking windows in several stores. Governor Ogilvie called out 750 National Guardsmen, every one needed to control crowds on a third night of rioting. Only a minority of students turned violent, but frustration was high.