tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1344053549326349537.post2769208167720923469..comments2023-09-20T11:05:38.405-04:00Comments on riverrun bookshop blog: Closing - Gotham Book MartLSS riverrunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00759182919152148433noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1344053549326349537.post-86516345681382881142009-10-08T18:37:25.481-04:002009-10-08T18:37:25.481-04:00I assembled the Wikipedia article about the Gotham...I assembled the Wikipedia article about the Gotham Book Mart (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gotham_Book_Mart ), and I enjoyed the place very much in the few times that I was able to visit New York and the shop. I may be over-glamorizing it to claim that it was more than just a book shop, but was in fact a cultural icon. It seemed to claim territory not just in Manhattan but also in our American psychological landscape - a sort of archetype for what a book store should ideally be. It appeared to really foster authors and literary endeavor beyond merely selling the products. <br /><br />You're right that a large significance is to be found in its 90-year run. I just can't help feeling a sense of loss for all of us that it ultimately closed its doors. And, the bibliophile in me is mildly outraged that the landlords, one of whom was supposed to be helping Mr. Brown, must've been party to forcing the eviction and sale of inventory -- which the landlord's own lawyer snapped up in a single lot. My bibliophilic nature is also not thrilled with the fact that the inventory was then later donated (entire or only part?!?) to a library instead of into the hands of book lovers, and that latter donation smacks a bit of a face-saving gesture. <br /><br />We lost a cultural monument when the Gotham closed its doors. The melodramatic public circumstances of its closing were further heart-rending to me and to many others, and bookended the whole story with a sense of pathos. Our culture's pell-mell hurtle towards immediate gratification, lack of intellectual development, and oblivious throwing-away of classic disciplines are resulting in us losing cultural artifacts before we even realize what we've lost.Silverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04726666995973612576noreply@blogger.com