Stop trying to make me smart.
No seriously, I don’t need you to enlighten me. I don’t want to hear about how the economy is in a recession and how moved you were by Actress A’s portrayal of Mother Teresa.
I know this may be hard to fathom but sometimes I just want to watch television, see a movie, or read a book that doesn’t make me smarter or enrich my life in any way. Sometimes, I just want to be entertained or more to the point, sometimes I want to shut the brain down and just relax.
I have a friend who just feels the need to let me know how much he knows about everything, movies, books, and sports. I mean this guy is knowledgeable about everything to the point where you just want to slap him and say I simply don’t care.
Not every movie I see has to be Schindler’s List. Not every television show I see has to be on PBS. Not every radio station I listen to has to be NPR. Not every book I read needs to be Atlas Shrugged. You can’t eat salad all the time; sometimes you just want a grilled cheese.
Therein lies the value of “schlock”. Schlock is comforting, schlock is reassuring, and schlock is easy. I don’t often watch VH1 but when I do I assure you I’m not doing so to further my education, or to enrich my knowledge of life. I watch VH1 because inevitably someone is about to do or say something that will be so stupid that I can feel more content with my life. The same can be said for books. I like to read. I firmly believe we as a society don’t do enough of it but not everything I read has to be on the NYT bestsellers list. Not every book I read has to be recommended by Oprah. Not every book I read has to make my brain grow.
So, I beg of you to take some time off from making the world a smart, better place and read some schlock. Don’t know any? Well I got you covered. How about some romance, or fantasy, or even mystery?
The next time you see me on the bus reading the latest Jim Butcher novel I want you to know I’m not doing so because I’m looking to strip down the protagonist and see what makes him tick. I’m not reading it so that I can espouse upon the sweeping arc of the plot. I’m not reading it so that later we can talk about the European influence on science fiction novels.
Nope, I’m just appreciating the schlock of it.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Democracy
I voted today.
It took five minutes and in some ways was just as routine as filling out the order form at the Armadillo Grill downstairs. I'd be lying, though, if I said that it wasn't an emotional experience for me. When we vote, we are exercising our most basic and important right, one that is the very organizing principle of our country. Though voting is by necessity a partisan act, it is in the act of casting a ballot that we are each of us -Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Anarchist- unified as American citizens involved in something greater than any one person or party.
Perhaps it's my post-voting high, but since returning to my (so-called) desk here at the Gothic, I've been thinking about democracy. Specifically, I've been thinking about the democracy of ideas and how the best bookstores seek to embrace that. Now, I'll be the first to admit that I have very strong ideas about politics, and like anyone else with well-entrenched beliefs I think that I'm right and that anyone who disagrees with me is wrong. But whenever I've had a conversation (or even a knock-down, drag-out fight) with someone who has well thought-out but opposing viewpoints, I've come away the better for it.That's because one's ideas become more nuanced, more complex, when encountering not just agreement but opposition.
In general, we Gargoyles tend to keep our politics to ourselves. Our customers embrace a broad spectrum of beliefs, and we don't wish to create a hostile environment for any of them. But a couple of days ago I found myself in conversation with a colleague and friend whose political leanings are in many ways the polar opposite of mine. This colleague (I'll call him "Wrong-O") and I spent a very pleasant half-hour or so exchanging our points of view. We actually listened to each other and found ourselves agreeing on many principles but differing dramatically on who we thought would be best equipped to run the nation. At the end of the exchange, Wrong-O said, "Now that's how you have a political discussion."
It was encouraging that the two of us could work alongside each other and continue to respect (even admire) each other while disagreeing. A bookstore should be a place that can accommodate a wide range of ideas, and we at the Gothic should strive to ensure that our stock reflects that variety. It's not our job to endorse one point of view over another. It's our job to create an atmosphere in which books and ideas seem exciting and in which customers can choose for themselves what they want to read.
Recently we were discussing a revamping of our under-browsed humor section. It needs more relevance and less hokum. As we discussed what would improve the section, I imagined P.J. O'Rourke on the shelf beside David Rees. Sure, they're at opposite ends of the political spectrum, but both are satirists of the highest caliber. And caliber is, for this bookseller at least, the sole criterion for deciding whether a book belongs on our shelves.
So go vote, Gothic shoppers. It's important, and it's fun. Then come by the bookshop and cast your vote for what belongs in our humor section, our politics section, or any section in the store. Remember: it's everybody's store, not just ours.
It took five minutes and in some ways was just as routine as filling out the order form at the Armadillo Grill downstairs. I'd be lying, though, if I said that it wasn't an emotional experience for me. When we vote, we are exercising our most basic and important right, one that is the very organizing principle of our country. Though voting is by necessity a partisan act, it is in the act of casting a ballot that we are each of us -Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Anarchist- unified as American citizens involved in something greater than any one person or party.
Perhaps it's my post-voting high, but since returning to my (so-called) desk here at the Gothic, I've been thinking about democracy. Specifically, I've been thinking about the democracy of ideas and how the best bookstores seek to embrace that. Now, I'll be the first to admit that I have very strong ideas about politics, and like anyone else with well-entrenched beliefs I think that I'm right and that anyone who disagrees with me is wrong. But whenever I've had a conversation (or even a knock-down, drag-out fight) with someone who has well thought-out but opposing viewpoints, I've come away the better for it.That's because one's ideas become more nuanced, more complex, when encountering not just agreement but opposition.
In general, we Gargoyles tend to keep our politics to ourselves. Our customers embrace a broad spectrum of beliefs, and we don't wish to create a hostile environment for any of them. But a couple of days ago I found myself in conversation with a colleague and friend whose political leanings are in many ways the polar opposite of mine. This colleague (I'll call him "Wrong-O") and I spent a very pleasant half-hour or so exchanging our points of view. We actually listened to each other and found ourselves agreeing on many principles but differing dramatically on who we thought would be best equipped to run the nation. At the end of the exchange, Wrong-O said, "Now that's how you have a political discussion."
It was encouraging that the two of us could work alongside each other and continue to respect (even admire) each other while disagreeing. A bookstore should be a place that can accommodate a wide range of ideas, and we at the Gothic should strive to ensure that our stock reflects that variety. It's not our job to endorse one point of view over another. It's our job to create an atmosphere in which books and ideas seem exciting and in which customers can choose for themselves what they want to read.
Recently we were discussing a revamping of our under-browsed humor section. It needs more relevance and less hokum. As we discussed what would improve the section, I imagined P.J. O'Rourke on the shelf beside David Rees. Sure, they're at opposite ends of the political spectrum, but both are satirists of the highest caliber. And caliber is, for this bookseller at least, the sole criterion for deciding whether a book belongs on our shelves.
So go vote, Gothic shoppers. It's important, and it's fun. Then come by the bookshop and cast your vote for what belongs in our humor section, our politics section, or any section in the store. Remember: it's everybody's store, not just ours.
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