August 27, 2024

At the Bookstore Café...

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... you can talk all afternoon.

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Bonus points if you can identify this excellent place.

86 comments:

Ann Althouse said...

And bonus points to anyone who's read at least 10 of these books.

Peachy said...

Howard Zinn is a-ho.

narciso said...

well three copies of zinn goes along way, I didn't find Jon Lee Anderson's take that edifying more hagiography then real criticism,

narciso said...

Galeano's open veins is a good bookend to Zinn, specially since the former admitted that he had made some mistakes in his analysis

tim maguire said...

I can't make out 10 titles, but of those I can, I read The Gulag Archipelago, maybe half of The Silmarillion, and a bit of Democracy in America. I've read a biography of Che Guevara, but I can't tell if it's that one.

narciso said...

lee anderson is the most prominent biography, at least in recent memory,
his was basically a one shot deal, as fidel's associate, like Stalin, he couldn't
face any serious competition, so Camilo died in a crash, and Che went into the Bolivian mountains,

narciso said...

I remember the Fatal Shore, when Columbia had a book club, that was Hughes first big investigation,

lonejustice said...

Althouse uses Flickr for the photos she posts, so you can double click on them to be enlarged so you can read all the titles.

PM said...

Atlas Shrugged and Zinn's Histories are excellent fictions.

Oak Park Joe said...

I assume this the fine used book store in Madison which is, I think, on the main street between campus and the Capital building.

What partial credit do I get for having read 4 of the books:
- Glengarry Glen Ross
- Closing of the American Mind
- Atlas Shrugged
- Treasure Island

Kay said...

I’ll take a wild guess and say it’s leopold’s?

narciso said...

actually Atlas Shrugged is quite prophetic and Howard Zinn belongs in the fantasy lane,

narciso said...

more than the Silmarillion

Roadkill711 said...

The Corrections, Purity, Undaunted Courage, Team of Rivals, Into Thin Air, The Gulag Archipelago, Closing of the American Mind, Atlas Shrugged, Democracy in America, Treasure Island, and Dead Wake.

There sure is a lot of bookshelf space wasted on Zinn’s alternative history screed, which would have been irrelevant and unknown agitprop if not for Matt Damon shilling for it in "Good Will Hunting."

n.n said...

Mystery To Me? Would be apropos.

narciso said...

Ah Closing that was illuminating back when it came out in the 80s, Bloom was very insightful

Sebastian said...

Read the two all-time masterpieces there, both in my personal top 10. A few of the others. Not Zinn.

Temujin said...

Wherever it is, it's got a terrific range of all the goods in there. When you can place books in a row by Harold Bloom, Ayn Rand, J. Edgar Hoover on Communism, followed by Che Guevara's biography, Howard Zinn, then wrapped up with Robert Louis Stevenson, well...you got my attention.

narciso said...

Zinn I think was derivative of Beard's economic analysis, with a touch of Jacobsen, the one who coined the Robber Barons,

Yancey Ward said...

I couldn't make out the titles to about 1/3 of them, but I have read 6 of the ones I could make out clearly. None of those I couldn't determine look even partially familiar.

Yancey Ward said...

I have read the first 3 you listed.

Yancey Ward said...

Ouch.

james said...

The Story of Civilization was a fun read.

Rabel said...

If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal he would be well advised to stay away from Hyannis Port.

Curious George said...

Your house.

narciso said...

https://www.amazon.com/Fake-History-Generation-Against-America/dp/1621577732 a corrective

Lincolntf said...

Reminds me of the bookshop where I met my wife in the 1990's. Tatnuck Bookseller &Sons in Worcester, MA. I was non-fiction manager and we had many spirited discussions about shelving protocol. My position was that I would put Historical Fiction in proximity to non-fiction (think shelving "Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter" on and endcap with "Team of Rivals") because it might stimulate sales. The opposing view was that we should basically shelve in an almost Dewey Decimal system, for ease of location. The battle raged on until Amazon put the store out of business decades ago. I still have the wife, though.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

I've read Treasure Island and The Fatal Shore. I endured the Silmarillion (and I'm a Tolkien fan).

Dave Begley said...

My name is Kamela Harris and I've never read a book.

Chest Rockwell said...

I've read about 5. I have Gulag Archipelago sitting unread on my bedstand for about 2 years now. It looks formidable. I'm intrigued by the Fromm book, or at least the title.

Yancey Ward said...

Ok, going to Flickr expanded the numbers of books I could see and have read:

Atlas Shrugged
The Silmarillion
The Gulag Archipelago
Closing of the American Mind
Debt of Honor
Band of Brothers
Democracy in America
And it is likely I have read the Le Carre book on the shelf, but I can't see which one it is.

Yancey Ward said...

And Treasure Island.

Narr said...

Liddell-Hart's History of the Second World War, Waning of the Middle Ages, The Constitution, Keegan's Second World War, Guns of August, Democracy in America, Gulag, Closing, Krakatoa, and Treasure Island, of those I can see clearly under enlargement.

Please send my bonus points to the usual place.

rehajm said...

A couple...no idea where 'tis...

wsw said...

The Posse East in Austin. Seriously, I love browsing other people's bookshelves and am a sucker for hi-res, zoomable imagery of same. Here we see an impressive roundup of titles, and some Yuck.

tcrosse said...

Books other people didn't want to keep.

Kakistocracy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Peachy said...

It feels very Portland.
Although - Ayn Rand would not be there. That book would be in a burnt pile in the back.

William said...

I've read well over ten books, although probably not from the assortment given here. Some interesting placements.... Is this one of those places where you relieve yourself of old books and pick up something new. I have that problem with a used bookstore in my neighborhood. Every time I finish a book, I drop it off there, but end up picking up two more. There's so much I want to read, but given my addiction to video games, porn, and naps, there are only so many hours available to read. ....I have three built in book cases in my apartment, and they're all full. I don't think I'll get through them all unless there's some breakthrough in longevity,

FWBuff said...

In no particular order:

1. The Moor's Last Sigh (Rushdie)
2. Undaunted Courage (Ambrose)
3. The Fatal Shore (Hughes)
4. The Closing of the American Mind (Bloom)
5. The Catcher in the Rye (Salinger)
6. The Constitution of the United States of America
7. The Guns of August (Tuchman)
8. West with the Night (Markham)
9. Nothing Like It in the World (Ambrose)
10. Dead Wake (Larson)

lonejustice said...

Reminds me of The Haunted Bookshop in Iowa City where I went to law school.

Jeff Gee said...

John Barleycorn by Jack London, The Guns of August, Between Meals by A J Leibling, Into Thin Air, An American Journey by Colin Powell, Catcher in the Rye, Gulag Archipelago (volume 1), the Alan Bloom. I saw the MOVIE of Glengarry Glen Ross. My eye tried very hard to turn the title of the chartreuse book to the right of the Colin Powell into “The Groovy Orgasm Trick,” but it did not succeed.

Jeff Gee said...

Just to be clear, I have not read "The Groovy Orgasm Trick," although I would.

RCOCEAN II said...

"And bonus points to anyone who's read at least 10 of these books."

I *tried* to read at least 10 of them. I've never been able to finish a Franzen novel. Or Fatal shore, or gotten through one of Durant's thick books. Or finished one Ambrose's "cash grab" WW II books. Did get through - Gulag, Zinns history, Goodwin's Team of Rivals, Atlas shrugged, Treasure Island, Thompson's rum diary, and Closing of the American Mind.

Gulag archpeligo (sic) is one of those books you need to read when young. I read in College, there's no way I could get through it now. Team of Rivals and closing are terrible. Rum Diary is OK. Treasure Island is the only one I would re-read. A great adventure novel for all ages.

lonejustice said...

I like the juxtaposition of Ayn Rand next to Che Guevara.

Rabel said...

Looks like you were in the War Department, so yeah, I've read many of those. The Book of Garnishes look promising.

who-knew said...

I've read:
The Fatal Shore
Democracy in America
Treasure Island
Debt of Honor
The Confessions of Nat Turner
ZInn's People's History (way back when it first hit the bookstores)
Atlas Shrugged
Catcher in the Rye (overrated POS)
The Guns of August
West With the Night
The Gulag Archipelago (only volume 1, but that's what I see on the shelf)
Andersonville is in my 'to-be-read' stack.
I might have read the John LeCarre, I've read lots of his books but I wasn't sure of the title of the one shown.

Yay! Bonus points!!

who-knew said...

Oh!, I forgot about Undaunted Courage, but I read that one, too.

Drago said...

The Gulag Archipelago is a 3 volume set.

The Vault Dweller said...

Now that is a wide spectrum of politically-oriented books: Atlas Shrugged, Gulag Archipelago, Biography of Che Guevara,, Howard Zinn History book, Karl Marx, Alexis de Toqueville, and more. This is what more liberal arts degree's reading list should look like.

Peter Spieker said...

Books I see that I have read in full: Team of Rivals, Undaunted Courage, Into thin Air, The Fatal Shore, Gulag, Treasure Island, and what looks to me like the 1st Volume of The Last Lion by Manchester. Also read in full books I don’t see but others say are there: Democracy in America, The US Constitution, Guns of August, Nothing like it in the world. Read in part: Caesar and Christ, The Renaissance, The Silmarlian, WWII A Pictorial History.

JaimeRoberto said...

Gulag Archipelago
Atlas Shrugged
Undaunted Courage
Moor's Last Sigh
Into Thin Air
Guns of August
Rum Diaries
Nothing Like It in the World
Closing of the American Mind
Catcher in the Rye

Lawnerd said...

Paul’s Book Store.

Howard said...

Yeah also a World war II veteran and negotiated the release of pows from Illinois during the Vietnam war. He constantly fought against the takeover of both Republican and Democratic parties by corporations. An anti-war activist for most of his life.

narciso said...

Dirty wars by scahill i used as a source for my novel

Aggie said...

I had no idea that Illinois was keeping POW's during the Vietnam war. Which side were they on? Is this the 'Howard Zinn' history I keep hearing about?

Brad Preston said...

Simarillion, Krakatoa, Undaunted Courage, Closing of the American Mind, Atlas Shrugged, Treasure Island, The Constitution, Guns of August, D-Day, Debt of Honor, The Victor's, Pegasus Bridge, Noyhing like It In the World, Band of Brothers, Catcher in the Rye, The Last Lion

wendybar said...

Kamala doing an interview this week WITH Walz, just shows she is afraid to be a woman, and speak for herself. She needs a white man to hold her hand?? Seems like it.

Sprezzatura said...

I like biking. But reading is too hard for me.

Do I get a bonus.

Peachy said...

Everyone should read waht Zuckerberg wrote. The whole thing.

Political Junkie said...

Chest - You were great in Boogie Nights.

Ann Althouse said...

Points to Roadkill711, Narr, FWBuff, who-knew, Peter Spieker, JaimeRoberto, and Brad Preston.

Ann Althouse said...

It's not a bookstore. I don't think a bookstore would arrange books like that. It's a café, and the owner told us he ran the bookshelves on a leave-one-take-one basis, which amazed me. How do you get such high quality that way?

I found the juxtapositions amusing, especially in that Atlas Shrugged/Che area. We thought of the question: Do you think the owner is on the left or the right?

Original Mike said...

Good grief. Now Kamala is denying she supports an EV Mandate, even though she cosponsored legislation doing exactly that in 2019., and the current administration, in which she is the #2 principle is solidly for it.

So she was for a fracking ban before she was against it. And she was for the banning of IC cars before she was against it.

Nobody believes this stuff, right?

Michael K said...

Howard is a Zinn fan. Zinn spent years trashing America. Sounds like that's OK with you. You're in the right party.

traditionalguy said...

I got 13 if the 2 Will Durant’s count as read on Audiobooks.

traditionalguy said...

As for the location my guess is Madison, Wisconsin.

wishfulthinking said...

Have read several of those books. The one book in these pics that mattered quite a bit to me (and brought bad memories now) was Gulag Archipelago. Read it entirely as a 15 year old shortly after leaving Cuba as a refugee. It was forbidden to read or own this book in Cuba. By the time we left the island prison I wasn't a regular teenager.

Lived in Cuba for those early years of my life, and saw the struggles and raw oppression my grandparents, parents, and other relatives went through. My paternal grandparents had their house, business, and at least two rental properties nationalized (stolen) by the left aka communists, democrats, progressives, etc. My paternal grandad was a bodega owner who was extremely hard working and thrifty. My maternal grandparents had their apartment, which they owned outright, and their business also confiscated in the nationalization drive by the leftists. Maternal grandfather was a taylor who ran his own small business for years.

My dad, a physician, was sent to cut sugar cane for several months in a row as punishment because we requested permission from the government to leave the country. He was not given a choice. He had to catch and eat snakes to survive since they were not fed properly. A form of slavery.

I had relatives imprisoned for protesting the communist government peacefully
while attending the university. How naive they were. They spent over a decade in prison.

I still remember when my parents told me that we were leaving Cuba. I was six years old then, and in my childish innocence I saw it as a great fun adventure. It would take my parents eight plus years to finally get permission to leave Cuba. We had to do so through Spain thanxs to my grandparents returning to their native land and pulling strings with the Catholic church.

I owe a great debt of gratitude to my grandparents and parents.

Narr said...

A couple of titles are in Dutch. Haven't read those.

I didn't notice Pegasus Bridge, so that's another.

n.n said...

OBERTALVIN COFFEE HOUSE

Ann Althouse said...

@n.n — You are correct!

Ann Althouse said...

"As for the location my guess is Madison, Wisconsin."

Incorrect! It's in Blue Mounds.

Ann Althouse said...

I consider listening to the audiobook to be reading the books. That's how I read books for the most part... because I go for long walks and because I click around too much when reading text.

Ann Althouse said...

Thanks for posting wishfulthinking.

Dawson Bell said...

I didn’t inspect the shelves. But glancing at both pics I was struck by the thought that if I ever wrote one myself (unlikely) I would insist the publisher use 50 point + size for the title because my eyes were drawn to CHE in both.

Ann Althouse said...

"I've never been able to finish a Franzen novel."

I love his novels. Have read "The Corrections," "Purity," and "Freedom." Read "Freedom" twice. Have read 2 of his essay collections as well.

Rocco said...

Define “Read”. I have read parts of at least eleven of them, but only two or three cover to cover.

n.n said...

For your information, the GPS coordinates are stored in the image. Is the owner Christopher Berge, a registered Democrat?

Mason G said...

Democrats don't care. They'd vote for a bucket of shit if it was labeled "D".

Maynard said...

I consider listening to the audiobook to be reading the books.

Well, except for the fact that you are not actually reading.

Kakistocracy said...

Zafron's The Shadow of the Wind series claims the bookshop prize for me.

McNally Jackson in NYC (3 in Manhattan Rockefeller Center + Seaport + Soho / 2 in Brooklyn) is a throwback to another era when you could walk in and lose yourself for an hour in books that you never knew existed -- a book lovers sanctuary.

The best book buyer alive and the deepest backlist.

A NYC Treasure
https://www.instagram.com/mcnallyjackson/?hl=en

Christy said...

Wow! I looked at those books and thought I was looking at my own shelves. I even have some of those exact editions. (Except Team of Rivals. That is on Kindle.) So I suspect the average patron is about 70 years old.

wendybar said...

Wow. What's happening in America today must be deeply troubling to you then. What great parents and grandparents you have!! You have lived an amazing life.

Rusty said...

I've read almost all of them on the last shelf.
Warning! Howard Zinn is a waste of paper.

RMc said...

So she was for a fracking ban before she was against it. And she was for the banning of IC cars before she was against it.

Nobody believes this stuff, right?


Only 51% of the country.

guitar joe said...

"Zinn spent years trashing America." A friend used to call him Ho Chi Zinn. It is possible to be a lib and hate dopey lefties like Zinn. Speaking of which, I have that Che bio on my bookshelf, but I wonder if I'd get to the end of that 700 or so pages and just think, "What an asshole." Maybe I can haul it to Goodwill. Sometimes, though, it's good to tell young people wearing a Che t-shirt that he was a murderous creep. As for Rand, has anyone actually gotten through her fiction? Awful, ponderous prose. Whittaker Chambers disliked her because she was an atheist and dime store Nietzsche. Real Nietzsche is bad enough.