Independent Bookstores Take Flight

Passengers on American Airlines flights during the month of February who pick up the airline's publication, American Way, will discover a feature article by Chris Tucker entitled "Book Tour -- The conventional wisdom is wrong: Real bookstores are not dead."

Tucker provides glowing descriptions of a number of well-known independents, along with phone numbers and addresses. The article profiles Strand Books, New York City; Books & Books, Coral Gables, Florida; Powell's City of Books, Portland, Oregon; Elliott Bay Book Company, Seattle, Washington; Tattered Cover, Denver, Colorado; and Harvard Book Store, Cambridge, Massachusetts, which Tucker describes as a place where "Lysistrata meets Lemony Snicket."

In a sidebar titled "But Wait, There's More: Here are some niche bookstores that we highly recommend," Tucker lists Book Baron, Anaheim, California; The Mysterious Bookshop, New York City; Black Images Book Bazaar, Dallas, Texas; Women & Children First, Chicago; Martinez Books and Art Gallery, Santa Ana, California; and Larry McMurtry's Booked Up, Archer City, Texas, all for their various specialties.

Tucker admits that he can only mention "some, not all" of the "country's most treasured independent bookstores."

His explanation continues, "All lists are incomplete, and we're keenly aware that dozens of beloved indies have been left out. We can already hear the cries: 'Hey, where's Cody's Books in Berkeley? Politics & Prose in D.C.? Harry W. Schwartz in Milwaukee? John K. King in Detroit? And what about That Bookstore in Blytheville, Arkansas? And Square Books in Oxford, Mississippi, and Brattle Book Store in Boston, and Shaman Drum in Ann Arbor, and ....' And so many more. Perhaps a sequel is in order. Maybe a trilogy."

Definitely … sounds like a terrific idea.

To read the complete "Book Tour" article on the American Way Web site, click here.