News & Opinions

Our writers have been around books for a long time and are never shy to share their opinions…

Dancing About Architecture

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by Jas Faulkner

author’s note: This is very, very late.  Late as in this should have gone live on Friday late.  Next week is the start of a new era at Bookshop Blog.  I won’t go into details.  Let me just say that I think you’re going to like what you see.  One change I can tell you about is that my columns will now appear every Thursday.  What else is happening at BSB?  You’re going to have to come back to find out.  Now, on with this week’s column…

Keith Richards’ “Life” gives a Glimmer Twin’s-eye-view of life as a Rolling Stone.

The date and time stamp thingie on the lower right hand corner of my screen says it’s 2:20 pm and the date is 8/3/2012.

Here is the list of top 20 best selling music biographies as of that moment on Amazon.com:

20. No Regrets by Joe Lyden and Ace Frehly

19. Bruce Sringsteen and the Promise of Rock n’ Roll by Marc Dolan

18. Seven Deadly Sins: Settling the Argument Between Born Bad and Damaged Good by Corey Taylor (Slipknot)

17. Mercury by Lesley-Ann Jones

16. When I Left Home: My Story by Buddy Guy and David Ritz

Motley Crude: Sixx’s book pulls no punches when it comes to life in a hair metal band.

15. 1d in America parts 1, 2, 3 and 4 Special Edition (Niall’s unofficial diary)  by 1d Fans International

14. It’s So Easy by Duff McKagan (Guns and Roses)

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Are We Setting Ourselves Up For Another Alexandria?

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by Jas Faulkner

Did Hypatia shush the barbarians one too many times, thus causing the destruction of the Library at Alexandria?

At a recent gathering of oral historians and archivists, the subject of data retrieval long after collection came up. Hard copies, acetate based media, anything mechanical, was still alive as far as many curators were concerned. However, when it came to digital media, the prospect of anything outliving its technology was far less likely.

One archivist recounted discovering that she needed to find an engineer who could help her recreate the the technology needed to rerecord interviews that had originally been stored on cylinders.  Finding a person who could do this via word of mouth took roughly two weeks.  Once the material was retrieved it was archived in a way that assured that the content of the interview would be accessible regardless of future technological changes:  a paper transcript was created and carefully stored.  The kicker came at the end of the month when the archive’s administrators refused to reimburse the personnel who elected to bring in the technician.  The administration’s argument was that a perfectly good digital copy had been made and should have sufficed when the need arose to retrieve the recording.

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Myth or Consequences? Posnanski’s Biography Of Paterno Is Problematic

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by Jas Faulkner  Joe Posnanski’s latest effort must have looked like a dream assignment to anyone with an interest in sports, especially college football. All he had to do was spend two years talking to a highly esteemed coach, his family, friends, coworkers, and past and present players.  His subject was lauded as someone who … Read more

How Do You Get A Job Like That?

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by Jas Faulkner  At a recent gathering of writers in Nashville, the conversation turned to the recent popularity of E. L. James’ Fifty Shades of Grey Trilogy. Everyone weighed in on their ability to write erotica and whether they felt it would hurt or hinder a writer’s credibility.  During the conversation, Trisha, who was one … Read more

Robots?? Really? Come On, Amazon

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While reading about Bezos and his acquisition of Avalon books, I came across a story I somehow missed, although how, I can’t imagine, since it involves robots. Amazon bought Kiva Systems, an company who makes giant orange machines that scuttle around warehouses fulfilling the millions of orders you, and I, well, you–make. Wow! Bezos must … Read more

Amazon Takes Over the World, One Publisher at a Time

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Today’s news about Amazon purchasing a 62 year old publishing company with a backlist of 3,000 titles, isn’t a surprise. Nothing Bezos and Amazon does anymore can surprise me, unless they decide to treat employees well and stop using cutthroat tactics to kill competition. Avalon isn’t the first publisher Amazon acquired, and I have no … Read more

Higgelty Pigglety Pop! Maurice Sendak Follows Jennie to the Castle Yonder

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by Jas Faulkner Admitted or not, sometimes trapped deep beneath layers of intellectual noise is the part of us that wants to don a wolf suit and run wild, unfettered by the concerns of real life. The men and women who create those special places are our real life magic makers. Even if we know … Read more