Posted on 09/15/2004 5:04:36 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Conservatives like to tell war stories-and refute them, a la the Swift Boat Vets-and some of those stories concern bookstores. And the people who work in them. Who tend to be….well, not exactly the most conservative-friendly people in the world. The bookstore leftist is more standard than the bookstore cat. And conservatives have often found these stores to be hostile territory.
In recent weeks, reports have circulated that customers-or would-be customers-are having a hard time finding Unfit for Command, John O'Neill's anti-Kerry book. Conservatives have suspected that stores are keeping it from them, or that clerks are deep-sixing them, or that something untoward is happening. Paranoia is in the air.
But sometimes paranoids can be on to something. I don't scoff at these suspicions, mainly because of my own experience-most of it in Ann Arbor, Mich., my hometown. (Ann Arbor is a bookseller's paradise, and, in some ways, a conservative's hell.) I worked at a store called The Little Professor. The manager there-a nice guy, actually-wouldn't put out conservative magazines and gun magazines. He flat refused to bring them to the floor, acting as censor. My brilliant (and conservative) friend Eddie Krause came up with a new name for the store: The Little Suppressor.
It may be hard to believe, but it took something like an act of courage to buy a conservative magazine in an Ann Arbor bookstore. I used to dread it-the clerk was almost invariably cold, and he often bristled, and sometimes you got snotty remarks. It was a relief just to get through a purchase without incident. And I know many who could give the same testimony.
In truth, it could be dicey to ask for a bag-yes a bag. That made you a despoiler of the environment, you see.
I know a journalist who lived in the Ann Arbor of the West, Berkeley. Purchasing his National Reviews and American Spectators at Moe's, he would say to the clerk, "Well, just keeping an eye on what the enemy is doing"-anything to get by. These tactics may not be brave, but, gosh, are they human.
As the Swift controversy heated up, the two bookselling giants, Borders and Barnes & Noble, were besieged by callers angry that they could not find Unfit for Command. Conservative hollered, "J'accuse!" Both companies pleaded that it was the fault of the publisher, our beloved Regnery-the supplier had not printed enough copies to meet demand. Liberals, for their part, also besieged the companies, demanding that they pull the book from their shelves.
Come with me now, to BorderUnion.org, "The Borders Books Employee Union Web Site." Herein lie some revelations-or confirmations. In notes to one another, Borders clerks have been griping about having to sell Unfit for Command, to the troglodytes who seek it. Although not every seeker is a trog: According to one clerk, "We did have a college professor come in looking for [the book]. She teaches a writing class and wanted to use it as an example of a 'false book.'" Or maybe she just wanted to read it and wanted to avoid grief from the clerk?
But let's get to the nitty-gritty. Writes a Borders Books beauty,
"We're "finding" [note those quotations marks] that most of the few copies we're getting are damaged and need to be sent back. So sad. Too bad. Bushies! Regnery needs to be more careful. I'm hearing from people at two other stores that this seems to be common. Why should we help destroy what is left of our country?"
Back for a second crack, our man exhorts,
"You guys don't actually HAVE to sell the thing! Just "carelessly" hide the boxes, "accidentally" drop them off pallets, "forget" to stock the ones you have, and then suggest a nice Al Franken or Michael Moore book as a substitute. Borders wants those recommends (sic), remember?
I don't care if these Neanderthals in fancy suits get mad at me [fancy suits?]. They aren't regular customers anyway. Other than "Left Behind" books, they don't read. Anything you can do to make them feel unwelcome is only fair."
Another Borders beauty writes, "I wish [conservative customers] really knew how little respect I have for them." Oh, we know, babe-we know.
Not long ago, readers of National Review Online sent in to me their experiences of trying to buy Unfit, and of dealing with bookstore clerks in general. Care for a (very) small sampling of their observations?..........[Continued]
Considering that Barnes & Noble pays so poorly, what do you expect? I worked for Barnes & Noble When my husband and I moved to another state to start a new business with a friend. They paid minimum wage and I was cheated out of promised health insurance.
I read the Borders employee forum. I don't doubt some conservatives were behaving that way. I called up Border's and just asked when the book would be in, and the girl offered to put me on an order list (without me asking first).
I did see Unfit For Command displayed as the #1 book in a local WaldenBooks store. However, they had innocently stacked a row of books overtop of the bestselling books.
I am sure that was not done to mask the number one book's status. Nooooooo.
If a cashier ever gave me a hard time about any purchase, I'd ask to see the manager immediately, and demand that he/she apologize right there in front of the customers.
I ordered "Unfit" from B&N before it was published. I usually order online from them, thus avoiding silly clerks, etc. So far it's been hassle free.
They know me at our local Books A Million as they have a habit of hiding books by conservative authors and I expect a modicum of service from retailers. I've quit walking all over the store trying to decipher what section they will deem appropriate to hide, er, I mean, house these books. I simply walk up to the counter, ask them if they have a copy of this book or that, and then tell them I'll wait while they locate it for me. I started this after being sent to Biography, Business, and finally New Age to find Cavuto's "More than Money" and then accidentally knocked over their shoulder high display of "My Life" by X42. Oops, pardon me.
I don't know about Burlington, but each time I pass through Montpellier, Vt, I believe I am in a time warp with aging hippies all around...
Thanks; it must not be on the web yet.
FYI Borders has a marketing/sales agreement with amazon.com.
Go to Borders.com and look at the top!
I did make a stink about not finding the book at first. The gal said they had 10 copies and went back to look for them. She didn't even bother to look out front.
She seemed confused when she couldn't locate them. I mentioned that I had noticed conservative books often were hidden in wrong sections. She seemed nervous with me for talking about such a thing.
As a began to leave I found Unfit on the table with all the other titles.
The check out guy was the snooty one. I was just glad I had my book and ignored him and wished him a great day.
Harrrrumph!
Costco is a good place to buy books. I know that the owner is a liberal, but his market is primarily small business owners who tend to be conservative. He's successful because he provides what they want. Costco has the best prices on books that I've seen anywhere. While our local one didn't have Unfit as soon as I would have liked, they did get it soon.
You dog, you.
Ha Ha.
Thanks for the tip. I wonder if Sam's Club has it.
Bookstores are businesses like any other, and have to make a profit. I can't believe they hide books or hinder the consumer from purchasing product.
Having gone through this several times at the local B&N, I expected them not to have Hugh Hewitt's latest book "If it not close they can't cheat".
I searched thoroughly and it was not on the shelves.
Then asked a clerk for help.
She couldn't figure out why it wasn't out and I simply told her, "Its probably hidden, that always happens here with conservative books."
Oh, we don't do that.
I then proceeded to chronicle my experience there.
Oh, well let me look in the back.
She emerged, minutes later, with a copy, announcing that it was about to be placed the next day.
(not about to believe that, but I let it go.....almost)
Came back the next day to check and it was nowhere to be found.
But they could order it.
No thanks, this was on day 1 & 2 of its release, if you can't stock the books, I'll buy on-line from Amazon.
As to the comparison between the prominence as relates to display, lib vs conservative, it looks to me like lib books get ordered in greater quantities, occupy better locations, and still don't sell. The clerks seem to be a bit ON EDGE all the time, quite possibly they feel infested, as Liberty students and professors are a big part of their clientele, and I don't think they can afford to alienate them. The displaying of lib books more prominently I see as an attempt to indoctrinate, and it's not working.
I have purchased a LOT of conservative books there, The American Spectator, etc., and I have never gotten a comment one way or the other. I have seen lib books purchased which elicited an endorsement very silently from the clerks, on more than one occasion. It's really funny, my guess would be 90% of the employees are libs and 80% of the customers are conservatives, it's fun for me to go in there and watch libs find one more reason to hate capitalism.
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