Harvard Bookstore for sale

Here in Mass, we’re lucky in that we have a number of great book stores. In Cambridge, there’s the Harvard Coop and Harvard Bookstore. There are also niche bookstores such as Pandemonium Books or The Globe Corner Bookstore.

The Harvard Bookstore, which has been a landmark for years, is now for sale. Frank Kramer assumed leadership of the store when his father died in 1962. The bookstore has been around since 1932.

Boston Globe’s Off the Shelf posted a Q&A with Kramer, who helped co found Cambridge Local First – a program that encourages people to shop locally. According the Q&A, gift certificates will be honored by the new owner and Kramer expects that the frequent buyer program will continue as well. According to articles, Kramer does not want to sell his bookstore to a chain.
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I found this interesting. I think it’s not just small, independent bookstores that need to be creative to draw customers.

Q: I’ve noticed that you are beginning to sell many non-book items. Why is this happening?
A: It is no secret that independent bookstores across the country are losing some of their book sales to the internet and other media. Despite this trend, people continue to need and enjoy a physical place in their communities and in travel destinations where the world of ideas and the literary mind are celebrated. Harvard Book Store has been that place for 75 years because we have sought out books and other products that our customers will buy. We will only remain profitable if we keep doing that

More reading:

Harvard Book Store for sale, http://www.wickedlocal.com/cambridge/news/x784972748

Harvard Book Store for sale, http://www.boston.com/ae/books/blog/2008/05/harvard_book_st.html

Harvard Bookstores:

http://store.thecoop.com/coopstore/estore_home.jsp

http://www.harvard.com/

http://www.pandemoniumbooks.com/

http://www.globecorner.com/

The power of redemption

Do you believe in second chances? James Frey probably hopes you do.

Perhaps best known for the controversy surrounding A Million Little Pieces, Freys back with a new novel, Bright Shiny Morning.

Without dredging up the past or my opinions about Frey, I will say I think our society has a dangerous habit of hyping up people and making them into stars and then delights in completely demolishing them. Look at Frey, one minute he’s on Oprah, hundreds are reading his book, flash forward he’s eating crow on Oprah.

That said, I couldn’t bring myself to read my copy of A Million Little Pieces. To me I didn’t see the point of reading something that I knew wasn’t the real thing. And I think the criticism he faced was legitimate.

With his new novel, Frey is now back in the limelight. He recently guest blogged over at Amazon’s Omnivoracious.

Amazon also included some reviews of Frey’s book in their regular feature: Old Media Monday: Reviewing the Reviewers:

(New York Times Janet) Maslin on Bright Shiny Morning by one of our other guests this week, James Frey: "The million little pieces guy was called James Frey. He got a second act. He got another chance. Look what he did with it. He stepped up to the plate and hit one out of the park. No more lying, no more melodrama, still run-on sentences still funny punctuation but so what. He became a furiously good storyteller this time."

(Los Angeles Time’s) David L. Ulin on Frey's Bright Shiny Morning: "'Bright Shiny Morning' is a terrible book. One of the worst I've ever read. But you have to give James Frey credit for one thing: He's got chutzpah.... Whatever else his failings as a writer, Frey was once able to move his readers; how else do we explain the success of 'A Million Little Pieces'? It's just one of the ironies of this new book that his fictionalized memoir is a better novel than 'Bright Shiny Morning' could ever hope to be."

The Boston Globe’s book blog, Off the Shelf also weighs in, “The Power of Redemption.” http://www.boston.com/ae/books/blog/2008/05/the_power_of_re.html

I feel like Off the Shelf makes some good points. While I believe everyone deserves a second chance, there are so many amazing authors and books I want to read, I would say Frey’s pretty low on my list.

Additional Reading:

Reviews mixed on new James Frey fiction, http://uk.reuters.com/article/stageNews/idUKN1343588520080514

James Frey emerges, with a novel about LA, http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/05/14/entertainment/e130639D97.DTL

James Frey's 'Bright Shiny Morning': the reaction, http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2008/05/james-freys-bri.html

Disgraced author James Frey rebounds with messy 'Morning', http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/reviews/2008-05-14-frey-bright-shiny-morning_N.htm

(The above image originally appeared on people.com)