Josh Cook

This book discusses a wide variety of issues that are suitable for anyone interested in the business of books. The author covers many topics including, the Publishing industry, marketing and promotion, book selling, independent book stores and plenty of other bookish related topics which I found quite interesting. Cook has many years of experience in this industry and has a lot of personal opinions to offer. It's too bad that I often found his approach to these topics to be judgmental, self righteous and always on the verge of being a political rant. I would have much preferred a more neutral presentation but I can't fault him for saying what he thinks. So 4 stars for content & 2 stars for presentation.… (altro)

this is a great little treatise on what booksellers' and bookstore owners' responsibilities are in the stocking/selling/displaying of harmful publications. in the difference we can make in keeping a space free (or even just more free) from hurtful words and stances. the little ways we can make a difference, even if we do stock (or special-order) a book. this is short but full of great arguments to arm booksellers with for those customers who want to be belligerent when we don't have a racist book on the shelf.

"The fact that the Republican Party and much of mainstream conservative media has collapsed into blatant and aggressive White supremacy, xenophobia, misogyny, and fascism, and that much of publishing treats them as if this is acceptable, is their fucking mistake, not yours. Trump being president does not make his ideas worth your shelf space. Fox News getting ratings does not make the ideas of its pundits worth your shelf space. Just because the Republican Party is the largest conservative party in America does not make their ideas worth your shelf space."

"Displays are not an expression of accessibility but of amplification. The book and the ideas and speech it contains will still be accessible whether it is on display, on the shelf, or needs to be special-ordered. Putting it on display simply amplifies it and extends its reach."

"You are not obligated to keep a bookseller on staff who does no real work for the store. So why should you be obligated to keep ideas on your platform that do no real work for the discourse?"

"We must be as persistent as White supremacy. ...We got here actively and so cannot be passive if want want to move forward."… (altro)

I really enjoyed reading this book - we have Trike Augustine, who is written as an asshole, alcoholic, snarky, Sherlock Holmes-esque figure, who has great power of deductions. However, he is NOT a Sherlock Holmes ripoff. The author manages to make him vulnerable, where his alcoholism is a result of knowing everything.

He works with Max, his partner and the one in charge of the managing the office and Lola, an artist with an amazing way of visualizing information. Both of the characters are very well written and goes beyond the stereotypes of the side kick. I especially like how Max is written, he doesn't get a lot of description, but what is written captures his personality and manages to paint a back story. Lola is written as an enigma - at first the side kick that runs around and does all the grunt work, but as time goes in, she is shown to be a genius in her own right, possibly equal to Trike.

The story is great, with lots of wrong turns, interesting red herrings, and a fast pace. However, it started going into a meta type story, with the ending not exactly explained. I found this very annoying, and it almost ruined the story. But, its so well written up to that point, I'm sticking it on my re-read list to see if there is something I missed on my first reading.… (altro)