Posted by
Bill Crawford on Sunday, September 06, 2009 8:46:16 PM
Since I got my electronic book reader, my book store visits have been sporadic- they have always been a favorite hangout of mine.
I had fifteen minutes to kill recently and I visited a Borders for the first time in a while. They haven't changed their childish ways.
In the peak of influence of the Clinton & Clinton Law Firm in Washington, conservative authors took off like rockets on the NY Times lists. In the stores, though, the workers would hide the copies for sale in obscure places, or turn them face down on the shelves.
In the age of Bush and Rove, there was a rennaissance of Progressive authors, and this was duly noticed by the press. Their books were prominently displayed, even when they went off the best seller lists. You could always find them in the front.
Now, in reaction to Obama, the conservatives are back. O'Reilly, Morris, Michelle Malkin, Glenn Beck and others are all selling like mad. Not only does this not get a mention in the press, but you often won't find any of these in the front displays. In this store, the Glenn Beck book was nowhere to be found and had to be requested.
That is all to be expected. Conservatives and book store employees are not a match that you would find in e-harmony.
The amazing thing I found was the number of Ayn Rand books extant on the shelves. Obviously I am not the only conservative feeling like they are re-living the first chapters of "Atlas Shrugged" under this President. The employees, if they are familiar with Rand, must not see how she is reconnecting with conservatives. Otherwise, they would be hiding that, along with every copy of "The Fountainhead" they could find.
Oh, well. Who is John Galt?