Talking to Josh Cook, Bookseller and Founder of the Porter Square Review of Books
From my desk at the bookstore where I work, I can see most of fiction and all of our new releases, the poetry section by the front door, the edge of world history. I watch people bend down to examine shelf talkers and I hear them chat with their friends (or family, or lovers, or even sometimes strangers) about this recent book they devoured or what they’ve heard about that beloved classic. From my desk at the bookstore, most days, it doesn’t feel like the industry is in the middle of a crisis.Article continues after advertisement
But for all of the good vibes, there is a specter haunting books and bookselling—several of them, really. Sales at indies might be better than ever, but we’re still climbing out of the Amazon-shaped hole. The list-ification of the few remaining major outlets for literary criticism troubles even its purveyors while a generation of readers has come up on Goodreads and learned the worst habits of critical thinking (or the lack thereof) from it. The publishing industry is beset by AI, from within and without. And that’s to say nothing of the very real threats to free expression coming from Republicans at every level of government right now.
