Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Books Watch Out for the Bookish Ones
Posted by Paul Constant on Wed, Nov 4, 2009 at 4:26 PM
SF Weekly tells the tale: Bay area resident Sean C. wrote a negative review of Ocean Avenue Books online. He started hearing from the owner.
"It wasn't anything really bad," Sean C. says. "But obviously it was enough to push her over the edge." First came the alleged onslaught of hilarious/disturbing e-mails to his account, such as "Goodbye pussy boy and I will be contacting your employers." You can read the other messages on his Flickr page. No one answered at the bookstore when the SF Weekly called Tuesday evening.
I especially like this one, because it was obviously written by a lover of literature:
But this wasn't any ordinary online confrontation. That's right: MEATSPACE SHOWDOWN! Sean C was sitting at home when he answered a knock on his door. A blond woman then forced her way into his house, dropped some movie passes on the floor and tackled Mr. C, who then forced her out of his house and onto the street. It was only when he called 911 and the police arrested the perpetrator that he discovered that she was the proprietor of Ocean Avenue Books. He is unsure how she found out where he lives. Moral of the story: DO NOT FUCK WITH BOOKSELLERS.
(Via Seattle Book News on Twitter.)
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2
I've spent many years working in a bookstore, and that sort of insanity is something I can imagine more than one of my colleagues doing. Bookstores attract crazy people to work for them.
3
What is it about used booksellers, anyway? There was another used bookstore in SF (it closed recently) that was also notorious for being run by a mentally unstable and extremely unfriendly couple. And then I think about the used bookstores I've been to, and how many of them appear to have been run by people generally unable to function in society. Is it just that no one who isn't completely insane would try to open a used bookstore?
4
"Did it ever occur to you that I am facing a very serious personal problem and I need some help with the cleaning here and I have no money to pay for any help, because business is bad? And don't tell me business is bad because the place is a mess because yeah I know the place is a mess, but you sure as hell aren't helping me get it cleaned up, What you wrote hurt me incredibly. I can't believe you help little animals but you wrote something incrddibly hurtful to a suffering human being. Yes of course I know who you are. I've always greeted you kindly and tried to help all the customers regardless."
In another letter she mentions begging Yelp to take her shop off their site with "tears streaming down her face".
Wow. She sounds really messed up and suffering. Unspecified personal problem on top of what sounds like impending bankruptcy. She may have got his address off a check or something.
Regardless, it's seriously uncool to post these letters up.
In another letter she mentions begging Yelp to take her shop off their site with "tears streaming down her face".
Wow. She sounds really messed up and suffering. Unspecified personal problem on top of what sounds like impending bankruptcy. She may have got his address off a check or something.
Regardless, it's seriously uncool to post these letters up.
6
Here's another thing that fucking sucks: zillions of people who've never been anywhere near her shop are flooding Yelp with one-star reviews right now because of the story in the Valley Wag.
8
I actually used to live only a few blocks away from this bookstore and I always felt kinda bad that I never went in there and tended to get my used books online instead.
Now I don't feel so bad.
Now I don't feel so bad.
9
@7, that was my question, too. is she a passive-aggressive attacker, who leaves movie passes after attacking as some sort of apology?
is she trying to turn sean c. away from books and to movie watching instead?
does he live in a movie theater and she thought she'd need them for access?
so many questions...
is she trying to turn sean c. away from books and to movie watching instead?
does he live in a movie theater and she thought she'd need them for access?
so many questions...
10
@ 6, boo fucking hoo. No one capable of this kind of behavior deserves sympathy. Why does she have yours?
11
Huh? Everyone capable of this kind of behavior deserves sympathy. She's having a mental breakdown. The punishment for assault is spelled out in law; I don't think it should involve public ridicule as well. Why do YOU think taunting the mentally ill is acceptable?
12
Taunting the mentally ill? He wrote a negative review, and she fucking flipped out on him. She's probably bipolar or depressive. That's not being mentally incompetent, and it's within her control to do something about that, or seek help if she starts spinning out of control.
Sorry Fnarf, but she has to take responsibility for her actions, not be excused from them.
Sorry Fnarf, but she has to take responsibility for her actions, not be excused from them.
14
Uh, in her younger years, I wouldn't have been that surprised if Jamie had done something like that.
Gulp. Glad I'm in Iowa right now, and she doesn't know where I live.
Gulp. Glad I'm in Iowa right now, and she doesn't know where I live.
15
Humans are pretty evil and hateful towards each other.
They write nasty, anonymous critiques.
They attack people in their homes.
They delight in sharing other people's misery.
Not that any of this is news... just a reminder of why I don't want to have kids, not in a world like this.
They write nasty, anonymous critiques.
They attack people in their homes.
They delight in sharing other people's misery.
Not that any of this is news... just a reminder of why I don't want to have kids, not in a world like this.
17
Matt @12, I'm not talking about his original review -- he's well within his rights there. I'm talking about posting her crazy emails, and the dozens of people attacking her shop on Yelp who've never been in it. He's enlisted the help of the internet pack mentality to tear her apart, and that's not cool. It's not any cooler than her assault on him. He's not crazy.
18
@ 17, I don't read it that way. He only posted the comments when he had to prove what had happened, and that was after she had attacked him. Yeah, the rest of the idiots dogpiling on her don't help, but he didn't tell them to do it, not from what I could see anyway. He was just saying what had happened and why.
19
I had this happen to me (minus the in-person encounter... and free movie passes!) via Ebay when i left a negative review for a seller. The seller sent me all kinds of psycho nasty emails, all of which I forwarded to eBay and resulted in her getting the boot. I have nightmares about her tracking me down.
20
Fnarf@17, is stalking and attacking someone for criticizing your business online cool, then? Whether she'd disturbed or not, he had a right to take action. I, for one, wouldn't mind knowing if the proprietor of a shop in my neighborhood is unstable and possibly inclined to assault her clientele.
22
You'd think writers would learn not to post hate mail just for the satisfaction of mocking people. The part they don't get is that they're the ones with the power -- they get to feeling so victimized because they got angry email they think themselves justified in pillorying some nutter on their web site.
If you can't take angry mail, don't publish. If you get serious threats, call the cops. But don't abuse your media status that way.
If you can't take angry mail, don't publish. If you get serious threats, call the cops. But don't abuse your media status that way.
24
@17, if a bad review causes the owner of a bookstore to physically assault someone, then that bookstore deserves a one star rating. What else would you expect?
"Bookstore A+++++, but owner will attack you if you say anything bad about the store?"
Storekeepers who attack their customers don't get good reviews. Simple as that. Take your bleeding heart elsewhere.
"Bookstore A+++++, but owner will attack you if you say anything bad about the store?"
Storekeepers who attack their customers don't get good reviews. Simple as that. Take your bleeding heart elsewhere.
25
Her store's previous reviews were quite good. This guy's review threatened to take the bread out of her mouth.
The "victim" is an asshole -- who wouldn't want a 1982 travel guide? Maybe you went there in 1982, and want to rekindle a memory. Or you're trying to remember details about a place that exists only in your memory (Was it in the 14th arrondissement, or the 12th?) Or you're planning a trip in the near future and want to patronize places with proven staying power.
The "victim" is an asshole -- who wouldn't want a 1982 travel guide? Maybe you went there in 1982, and want to rekindle a memory. Or you're trying to remember details about a place that exists only in your memory (Was it in the 14th arrondissement, or the 12th?) Or you're planning a trip in the near future and want to patronize places with proven staying power.
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