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News & ArtsWednesday, June 10, 2009
Books Ruh-Roh
Posted by Paul Constant on Wed, Jun 10, 2009 at 2:22 PM
Longtime independent bookstore Shaman Drum, in Ann Arbor, is closing at the end of this month. The story is reported by, among others, the Ann Arbor News, which is scheduled to close down at the end of July. This is too depressing to think about.
AND!
Arcade Publishing, one of the best independent publishers in the business, has filed for Chapter 11.
Coincidentally, my feature story about Book Expo America and the death of the publishing industry is now online and ready for you to read. I'll be drinking myself to death in the tub if anyone needs me.
4
Is Bailey on Broadway closing as well? I was in there on Sunday and they didn't have anything at all?
5
Paul, you can only drink yourself to near death, ok... please... your book nerd geekery makes my work day tolerable...
6
Holy Hell. Shaman Drum?!
That place was great for offbeat books and such. One of my few favorite bookstores.
That place was great for offbeat books and such. One of my few favorite bookstores.
10
@jocelyn. You're the saddest, most pathetic person in the world. I hate you, too.
Paul Constant is a self-absorbed uninteresting snot who has ruined slog with his inane postings about his personal feelings on pointless topics.
Typical Paul Constant: "Here's a blog post about the seven types of bookstore customers. It's interesting but I actually personally believe there's fourteen types. There's the douche bag who comes to book readings. Plus Japanese people are so weird and so stupid, look how goofy they are.
Us book editors think that japanese people are stupid and goofy because the eat funny food and they are addicted to porn manga".
Dan Savage has a random Paul Constant blog post generator and it creates this pointless drivel full that turns any story into something about Paul, and is full of misplaced bold typeface and the occasional racist statement about the Japanese.
Paul Constant is a self-absorbed uninteresting snot who has ruined slog with his inane postings about his personal feelings on pointless topics.
Typical Paul Constant: "Here's a blog post about the seven types of bookstore customers. It's interesting but I actually personally believe there's fourteen types. There's the douche bag who comes to book readings. Plus Japanese people are so weird and so stupid, look how goofy they are.
Us book editors think that japanese people are stupid and goofy because the eat funny food and they are addicted to porn manga".
Dan Savage has a random Paul Constant blog post generator and it creates this pointless drivel full that turns any story into something about Paul, and is full of misplaced bold typeface and the occasional racist statement about the Japanese.
11
Oh no! I'll miss Shaman Drum. State street just won't be the same. (sniff)
Funny that I would hear about this on Slog before it made any of the U of M/bookish-alum sites.
Funny that I would hear about this on Slog before it made any of the U of M/bookish-alum sites.
12
Max J - lawlz. Paul Constant likes words. He is pretty smart and his name is cool. Also, he is kind of a dork. I like all these things in a person, even if he is just a random blog-post generator.
13
No, Bailey/Coy Books on Broadway is not closing. You are seeing less books on the shelf, yes. Having shelves groaning with overstock is just not a sustainable business model at this particular moment in retail. Do we like it? No. Will it change? We sure hope so. When people start buying more books from - Local. Independent. Bookstores.
The closing of Shaman's Drum is sad, it was a great bookstore with a great rep.
The closing of Shaman's Drum is sad, it was a great bookstore with a great rep.
14
I hate to say it, but I didn't think Shaman Drum was really all that great. I'd be far more concerned if the Dawn Treader went under.
15
I live in Ann Arbor... Shaman Drum wasn't that great. I feel like they're going under because they marked book prices up regularly and had a no-return policy on books that made students rather inclined to shop online (as if we weren't inclined enough).
I always hoped a better independent coursebook store would come along, because Shaman Drum was pretty shitty.
I always hoped a better independent coursebook store would come along, because Shaman Drum was pretty shitty.
16
Shaman Drum, with its average selection and high snobbery, was a poor consolation for the loss of Ann Arbor's truly great independent bookstore: the pre-chainified Borders Books.
18
I am amazed that ANY bookstore could survive in the town where Tom Border's cancerous chain was born.
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