(To be fair, I snagged that title from Slate. Because it’s genius. And because it’s true.)
I watched the assholes that run Barnes & Noble force a lot of quality bookstores out of business, coast (San Francisco) to coast (New York) to coast (Baton Rouge).
Worse yet is that the giant well-lit pseudo-intellectual places which replace the independent shops are marketing machines, rather than promoters of genuine literature appreciation. Borders, BN, and the like serve only to perpetuate the McEducation of the youth in America.
In short, I wish them nothing but pain. Like, say, this kind of pain, brought to you by a Florida Barnes & Noble (by way of Wonkette).
Saying one of your customers did it is kind of my point. These places aren’t havens for intellectuals or hipsters; they’re havens for the Dave Matthews hipsters and the people who want to feel like they’re smart because they look at books sometimes. Blech.
