No disrespect to DavefromQueens (ahem, with all due respect, I meant), but I went on a mission this afternoon to a Princeton book store, all fired up and expecting to witness the destruction of local intellectual culture and small town downtown ambiance caused by corporate globalization and Ivy League University hegemony.
You see, the longstanding Princeton downtown bookstore (Micawber Books, right across the street from the University and an anchor in the heart of Nassau Street)was absorbed by Princeton University and replaced by what, I assumed, was some sterile conformist corporate Dalton Books chain called Labryinth Books.
Labyrinth Books, one of the nation's leading scholarly bookstores, will open a store in Princeton in the fall of 2007 in the Nassau Street property currently occupied by Foot Locker, and the Princeton University Store will open a satellite apparel and insignia store on Nassau Street in space currently occupied by The Children's Place and Micawber Books. These moves follow a decision by the owners of Micawber Books to sell their business to the University after 25 years serving the Princeton community.
Yeah right - believe everything you read in a press release (but check out the great photo!)
(link and continued)
http://www.princeton.edu/...
So what, dear readers, did I find?
I gota tell you, I was not impressed by the ambiance- the modernist tract lighting, shelves, and new furniture - and much prefer the crunchy Micawber used book motif.
But I was extremely pleased to see David Harvey's "A Brief History of Neoliberalism" prominently displayed right up front in the New Non- Fiction section, along with scores of other excellent selections. I left the store with with Harvey's work, plus "The American Lie" (Benjamin Ginsberg) and "Empire of Capital" (Ellen Meiskins Wood - for only $5 bucks!).
But can you believe that I was asked to LEAVE the store? The store had to close early - it only opened this week - to bring in help to stack the shelves with 20,000 more volumes.
Outrageous!
I felt like calling the police, or filing a lawsuit. How dare they!