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Re: At Barnes and Noble Yesterday

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On 01/06/2016 01:50, Wexford Eire wrote:
> I used to like Barnes and Noble very much. A visit there would always
> mean bringing home something interesting, often beautifully
> illustrated and useful, and not expensive. I've been away for years,
> though, preferring e-books and Kindle to paper or hard cover books. I
> was sad to see the deterioration of their section on science. The
> science books were hard to find and relegated to a few four-foot long
> shelves over by the books on computer languages and national parks.
> On the other hand there were rows and rows of shelves loaded with
> books on "Christian Interest," on "Religion," on "Philosophy" (mostly
> junk books like "Eat, Pray, Love"), few real classics. To be fair, I
> did see two or three versions of "Origin of Species" in different
> formats in their bargain books section.
>
> The visit to B&N forced a sad reflection on the state of learning and
> reason in the contemporary United States. So many people prefer magic
> and nonsense to anything remotely truthful or factual or scientific.
> It seems to get worse every year. I've tried to assure that my
> grandchildren will stay rooted in reality, and my children have as
> well (not a biblebot in the lot, not even a church goer), but there
> is so much propaganda on television and in children's literature
> pushing children to believe in spirits and magic, it's disgusting. In
> my opinion its just child exploitation and abuse. Disney is the great
> grandaddy of it all, promising "magic" everything but delivering
> nothing but an overpriced amusement park, a phony community, a tawdry
> lie, and an empty wallet.
>

Market forces, alas....

Bricks and mortar book shops have a dreadful time of it, trying to 
compete with Amazon and the like.  So they really have to try and catch 
every single potential customer, and that does mean focusing on the 
lowest common denominator.

It's also a cultural matter.  Different countries have different reading 
preferences and traditions.  For instance, popular science and history 
books have always been good sellers in Britain; they are regularly 
reviewed in the national press, and get lots of floor and shelf space in 
book shops.  However, in secular France, there is a lot more philosophy 
being touted, and in un-religious Germany, they tend to fill shelves 
with fiction (both translated imports from the UK and US and seriously 
highbrow German stuff).

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At Barnes and Noble Yesterday Wexford Eire <wexford.eire.1798@gmail.com> - 2016-05-31 08:50 -0700
  Re: At Barnes and Noble Yesterday Justice Should Not Enable Sluts <opuzayo@gmail.com> - 2016-05-31 10:56 -0700
    Re: At Barnes and Noble Yesterday Wexford Eire <wexford.eire.1798@gmail.com> - 2016-05-31 13:24 -0700
    Re: At Barnes and Noble Yesterday hypatiab7 <hypatiab7@comcast.net> - 2016-06-01 02:12 -0700
  Re: At Barnes and Noble Yesterday viva padrepio <vivapadrepio@aol.com> - 2016-05-31 13:32 -0700
  Re: At Barnes and Noble Yesterday "Alex W." <ingilt@yahoo.co.uk> - 2016-06-01 10:35 +1000
    Re: At Barnes and Noble Yesterday viva padrepio <vivapadrepio@aol.com> - 2016-05-31 17:54 -0700
    Re: At Barnes and Noble Yesterday John Locke <johnnydemon666@demonmail.com> - 2016-06-01 07:32 -0700
      Re: At Barnes and Noble Yesterday Wexford Eire <wexford.eire.1798@gmail.com> - 2016-06-01 08:51 -0700
        Re: At Barnes and Noble Yesterday "Alex W." <ingilt@yahoo.co.uk> - 2016-06-02 11:07 +1000

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