I may wind up feeling a little guilty about Book Soup, a very fine independent book store up on Sunset Boulevard. It was, and I guess still is, a model of the "old school" place to buy books…a shop where browsing is encouraged and which stocks a much wider range of publishers and subjects than you could ever find at a Barnes & Noble or other chain store. It has always employed folks who genuinely love books and know plenty about them — and if you ask them for some title they don't stock, they'll take down its name and look into acquiring copies. It is also "the" place for signings. I doubt any store in this country has ever had a more stellar list of authors who've graced its doors to autograph their output.
So what's the problem? Well, last Friday the store's owner-founder, a man named Glenn Goldman, announced the venerable establishment was up for sale. And then on Saturday, Mr. Goldman died from from pancreatic cancer. No one knows what will now become of the business he founded in 1975 but obviously, things are going to change. That's ominous because these days when you're an independent bookseller and things change, it usually means you go out of business and they put a Pinkberry yogurt shop where you were.
One hopes/trusts that will not be the case with Book Soup. If it does, I'll probably feel a twinge of guilt because I long ago stopped shopping there. I don't think I've set foot in the place for at least ten years.
I can give you reasons why. The parking up there was always impossible. Once, I completely missed the signing of a favorite author because I got there 45 minutes before he was to depart and in all that time, I couldn't find a legal place to leave my car at any price. The store was always cramped due to its narrow aisles and books crammed into every conceivable space and people standing around reading them. And of course, you have online entities like Amazon which will ship the exact same books to your door for around half the price.
I like the idea of Book Soup. I like it being there and I feel good when I'm in places like that. But I rarely go to them.
I admire the spirit of Mr. Goldman and his staff and I'm glad that that kind of business hasn't been beaten completely into submission by the likes of Amazon and Barnes & Noble. But I rarely go to them.
I even like driving past it occasionally and seeing it there…but I have to admit: I drive past on my way home to order from Amazon. Therein lies the possible guilt. I've contributed to the sad fact that places like that are on the endangered species list…or at least, I haven't done anything to help.
Logic suggests this should be the paragraph where I vow to visit Book Soup soon and buy lots of books I want, even though it would be easier and cheaper to buy them online. The answer is that I could vow that but I doubt I'll do it. I'm not proud of that but I have to be honest…and hope there are enough people not like me in this regard that stores like that don't all go away.