Saturday, January 29, 2005
The Season Begins
It's the start of another publishing season for me. The catalogues are here, advance copies of books are rolling in, appointments are made. This is my third time out and the first time it's starting to feel easier.
Here's the list of stores and places visited after the first week of travelling:
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago - I'm looking forward to their upcoming exhibit, Universal Experience: Art, Life, and the Tourist’s Eye.
Luminaire - A great design store. I am slowly learning the names and products of the current hot designers. Something I can honestly say I never thought would happen and here we are.
Brent Books - A downtown store in Chicago with a rich literary pedigree. I enjoy meeting with Adam Brent to get a feel for how our books are going to do on an instinctual level in the independent stores.
Unabridged Books - Cool bookstore on the northside, extensive gay and lesbian sections for the community, and great remainders in a wide range of categories. I have a hard time leaving without a few additions to the shelves.
Harry W. Schwartz - Schwartz is the local bookseller for all of Milwaukee. Great history, amazing events schedule, strong focus on training good booksellers. I need to block out a day and drive around to all four of their locations.
Milwaukee Art Museum - I love the story unfolding at this museum. In October, 2001 they opened the new addition designed by the architect Santiago Calatrava. Please go to their website and see why this is one of the most amazing buildings in the world. It's proof of the power of beautiful architecture to add value to the community. In their video on the construction of the Calatrava, the construction workers talk about how everyone involved felt changed from the experience. It's worth a sidetrip from Chicago to see this place.
Quimby's - Homebase for artist Chris Ware and the underground zine world of Chicago. This is the place for the oddball, the eccentric, the hard to find graphic novels, the experimental novelist, etc. I sat on their thrift store couch and educated myself on the artist Jeff Wall (a growing favorite of mine). I picked up a nice copy of The Value of Things by Marysia Lewandowska and Neil Cummings. They also have the best new music playing. I'm on the hunt now for a copy of MIA's CD, Piracy Funds Terrorism.
The Savvy Traveller - The store is full of suitcases, travel guides, atlases, and other necessary items for world travel. It's fun to drop in and sell them our wine region guides.
Prairie Avenue Bookshop - Wow. This store is on my list of most beautiful bookstores in the country. Prairie Ave is the best architectural bookstore in the country. They have a national and global business and a long history of building reference libraries for architects. The store is located in a one story building off Wabash Ave, under the El train. The front wall is skyscraper-grade glass to block the noise from the trains above. Inside is a quiet room with dark walls, tastefully making it always have the feel of a quiet night in a graduate library. The bookcases are organized by architect names and subjects. In the middle of their big room is a fifteen foot oval table with high backed chairs. I love this place and would spend hours here if I lived in Chicago. It makes me wish I'd become an architect.
Next week I'm off to Indiana for three days. Special thanks to Richard Gregg, former events manager at Brookline Booksmith and new Phaidon rep for the Northeast. Richard spent the week travelling with me in Chicago to see how crazy the life can get between stores, hotels, and the eternal search for internet access. Good times. Hopefully he got some rest this weekend before he begins his travel season.
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Here's the list of stores and places visited after the first week of travelling:
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago - I'm looking forward to their upcoming exhibit, Universal Experience: Art, Life, and the Tourist’s Eye.
Luminaire - A great design store. I am slowly learning the names and products of the current hot designers. Something I can honestly say I never thought would happen and here we are.
Brent Books - A downtown store in Chicago with a rich literary pedigree. I enjoy meeting with Adam Brent to get a feel for how our books are going to do on an instinctual level in the independent stores.
Unabridged Books - Cool bookstore on the northside, extensive gay and lesbian sections for the community, and great remainders in a wide range of categories. I have a hard time leaving without a few additions to the shelves.
Harry W. Schwartz - Schwartz is the local bookseller for all of Milwaukee. Great history, amazing events schedule, strong focus on training good booksellers. I need to block out a day and drive around to all four of their locations.
Milwaukee Art Museum - I love the story unfolding at this museum. In October, 2001 they opened the new addition designed by the architect Santiago Calatrava. Please go to their website and see why this is one of the most amazing buildings in the world. It's proof of the power of beautiful architecture to add value to the community. In their video on the construction of the Calatrava, the construction workers talk about how everyone involved felt changed from the experience. It's worth a sidetrip from Chicago to see this place.
Quimby's - Homebase for artist Chris Ware and the underground zine world of Chicago. This is the place for the oddball, the eccentric, the hard to find graphic novels, the experimental novelist, etc. I sat on their thrift store couch and educated myself on the artist Jeff Wall (a growing favorite of mine). I picked up a nice copy of The Value of Things by Marysia Lewandowska and Neil Cummings. They also have the best new music playing. I'm on the hunt now for a copy of MIA's CD, Piracy Funds Terrorism.
The Savvy Traveller - The store is full of suitcases, travel guides, atlases, and other necessary items for world travel. It's fun to drop in and sell them our wine region guides.
Prairie Avenue Bookshop - Wow. This store is on my list of most beautiful bookstores in the country. Prairie Ave is the best architectural bookstore in the country. They have a national and global business and a long history of building reference libraries for architects. The store is located in a one story building off Wabash Ave, under the El train. The front wall is skyscraper-grade glass to block the noise from the trains above. Inside is a quiet room with dark walls, tastefully making it always have the feel of a quiet night in a graduate library. The bookcases are organized by architect names and subjects. In the middle of their big room is a fifteen foot oval table with high backed chairs. I love this place and would spend hours here if I lived in Chicago. It makes me wish I'd become an architect.
Next week I'm off to Indiana for three days. Special thanks to Richard Gregg, former events manager at Brookline Booksmith and new Phaidon rep for the Northeast. Richard spent the week travelling with me in Chicago to see how crazy the life can get between stores, hotels, and the eternal search for internet access. Good times. Hopefully he got some rest this weekend before he begins his travel season.
