Wednesday, September 11, 2002
There's a fairly large September 11 display at the bookstore I work at. It's mostly books of pictures from the destruction or true stories of people involved. Big books the size of art gallery catalogues or hardbacks with covers that remind me of celebrity biographies.
I noticed today that no one was browsing there. Absolutely no one. I'm not sure if the signage was bad, or if Seattle is just too far from NY for us to really feel the impact. (I doubt the latter. I was here when it happened and we all felt it.)
My gut says it's more than that. We're not ready, and hopefully we'll never be ready, to buy books about this. We don't want to let ourselves be drawn to these books. Reading them feels like supermarket tabloids.
I feel sick even thinking about recommending these books to customers. Even the well done ones, which most of them are as well done as they could be. I'm okay if all of the big picture books don't sell. I can't encourage consumerism in the name of 9-11. Let the libraries file these ones away for future generations.
I'd rather people spend money on one of the books arguing for or against war in Iraq or better yet, Peace Like a River. This was the first novel I read after 9/11. The beginning resonated loudly, deafening, in my mind. It's about the escalation of violence between an older brother protecting his sister and the town bullies who harrass her. When is retaliation justified? When is it necessary to push back? Is it ever necessary? Let's read about this. Let's fill our books with this discussion.
Anything but glossy pictures. Please.
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I noticed today that no one was browsing there. Absolutely no one. I'm not sure if the signage was bad, or if Seattle is just too far from NY for us to really feel the impact. (I doubt the latter. I was here when it happened and we all felt it.)
My gut says it's more than that. We're not ready, and hopefully we'll never be ready, to buy books about this. We don't want to let ourselves be drawn to these books. Reading them feels like supermarket tabloids.
I feel sick even thinking about recommending these books to customers. Even the well done ones, which most of them are as well done as they could be. I'm okay if all of the big picture books don't sell. I can't encourage consumerism in the name of 9-11. Let the libraries file these ones away for future generations.
I'd rather people spend money on one of the books arguing for or against war in Iraq or better yet, Peace Like a River. This was the first novel I read after 9/11. The beginning resonated loudly, deafening, in my mind. It's about the escalation of violence between an older brother protecting his sister and the town bullies who harrass her. When is retaliation justified? When is it necessary to push back? Is it ever necessary? Let's read about this. Let's fill our books with this discussion.
Anything but glossy pictures. Please.
