I'm not sure who's had a harder time of it lately: The northern spotted owl or the independent bookseller. Both seem to be teetering on the brink of extinction.
Non-chain bookstores have had a one-two punch. A few years ago, big chains like Crown Books and Brentano's began doing to them what Walmarts do to the neighborhood mom-and-pop businesses in many a town. More recently, online booksellers like Amazon and Barnes & Noble have siphoned off enough business to cause book shop after book shop to close down and be replaced by a Starbucks or a Kinko's.
And now, Dutton's Books on Laurel Canyon Boulevard in North Hollywood is closing. Dutton's offered a glorious selection of new and used books for 45 years there. They're currently having a 50% off sale on their remaining stock and when it's depleted, which should be around the end of this month, Davis Dutton is shutting the door, moving his family to another state and doing his bookselling on the Internet. The Dutton's stores in Beverly Hills and Brentwood, managed by other family members, will remain in business…but the one on Laurel Canyon was the most wonderful clutter of books and interesting patrons. I never went in there without finding a book I wanted to buy and running into someone I wanted to talk to.
It was also a gutsy store, dedicated solidly to the right of authors to write and have their books sold. When Iran issued a fatwa against author Salman Rushdie for The Satanic Verses, Dutton and his staff posed for a photo that ran in The Los Angeles Times. It showed them selling the book and the accompanying story said they would continue to do so, no matter what. It was also a store that loved to host author signings, no matter what the book, no matter how small the potential turnout. A writer friend of mine was once unable to get his publisher to set up any events. He picked up the phone, called Dutton's and they immediately agreed to a signing party.
I feel guilty that places like this are going away. I rarely go into bookstores since Amazon is just so easy. But I should…before any more of them disappear. We all should.