So here’s the deal. As I type this, our store has has 996 fans on our Facebook page. I know, that’s so so close to an even thousand. And actually, so many people in general. I don’t think we could fit you all into the store at once.* We’ll probably pass the 1K mark today, maybe early tomorrow. So I thought I’d do something to celebrate. First, I plan to high-five all the booksellers around me, maybe whoop a little. But that seems, I don’t know, unrewarding for all you fans whose clicks put us over the top. After all, you could have de-friended (un-friended?) us at any point, and you were either too lazy or too enthusiastic about the store to do that. That deserves something in return, right? It’s a shame, then, that you live in Alaska and Bangalore, isn’t it? Not too many ways for me to reward our far-flung fans.
Right, of course, I could choose a few of you at random and send out prizes, but that seems too logical, doesn’t it? No, here’s what’s going to happen instead: once we hit our thousandth Facebook fan, I’m going to get up out of my little office chair, head out onto the store floor, buy a book and give it to a stranger. That’s it. Nothing to do with Facebook at all, really. Everything to do with what our store is about: bringing good, overlooked books to the people who need them.
And here’s where you come in. I want you to choose the book. What book would a stranger like to receive? I thought to get something Facebook-related at first, but that seems too limiting. Maybe it should be a book that every person should own but probably doesn’t – a nice copy of Carver or Akhmatova? Maybe something absurd? A field guide to fungi? I want your votes on this. Consider it the perfect act of charity – your chance to do something nice for a stranger without having to actually pay any money or meet that person.
For those schemers among you with far too much free time, you can try your hand at being the person to win the prize. Just be in our store at any point today from around noon to 10 pm, or perhaps tomorrow morning, and watch for me, Dustin, on the store floor. I’ll be the one carrying a book. Good luck!
Lastly, if you’ve made it this far down, let me get a little too sincere for a moment. You, our online community, are one of the single greatest resources this store has. I really do depend on you to tell me what you like or dislike, what you find interesting and what bores you. You often feel like accomplices to me, like we’re colluding in this great scam: a functioning vibrant bookstore in the 21st century. So thank you.
* I want to try this so badly. Dear everybody, let’s make my dream a sweaty fire-code-breaking reality!
the art of harvey kurtzman
How many people were at the last Harry Potter release? That sure as hell felt like 1,000.
I didn’t actually have a chance to count, I was too busy opening the boxes of the damn book as fast as I could. But yeah, felt like that many when you tried to do anthing but stand exactly still.
Aw, how sweet. Would Calvino be too meta (especially If On a Winter’s Night a Traveller, though Invisible Cities is my favorite and has more to do with chance and serendipity)? I suppose a M&J fan would likely already have read both, though.
I read Mischa Berlinski’s Fieldwork because it was a M&J staff recommendation—really enjoyed it and have recommended it to others.
But right now I’m reading Brian Lynch’s fictional account of the life of William Cowper, “The Winner of Sorrow,” and would like to press a copy into the hands of strangers I meet on the street. Good luck on making your choice!
Oh man, I think these might all be excellent choices.
And I try never to assume that people have read even the most obvious (and in this case slim) of classics. I for instance, have read Invisible Cities but never If on a Winter’s Night.
I believe all booksellers are required to read the first chapter, at least, of If On A Winter’s Night A Traveler. There are rules, you see. After that you should know if you want to carry on with it (I really liked it). Under the Jaguar Sun is great, too.
She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb.
OK Wait better.. and more confusing…. Catch 22
“Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” by Jonathan Safran Foer
the new ayn rand book, they will be either be like “thanks a lot!” or “no thanks!”
What It Is by Lynda Barry–perfect for anyone.