Back Pages Books
A small, but devoted and thoroughly learned assembly gathered at Back Pages on Thursday night - and it was bitter cold outside, which made the warmth inside all the more appealing. The excellent arrangements made by Daniel and Abby were all to the good, very much appreciated, and even the literary dragons seemed to be appeased by it all.
Back Pages has recently reorganized its space and has made it even more light, airy and welcoming than before. Bookstores have, I think, a duty to create a calm environment so that readers can be stimulated by the books rather than by the bustle of an integral Starbucks and salad bar.
Don’t get me wrong - I like coffee and salad, but I rarely feel relaxed in Barnes and Noble, and even more rarely do I find it possible to be tempted by their books. It just reminds me too much of an airport when I’m in those places. And so I go to the magazine racks, or leaf through the large picture books. Back Pages, on the other hand, gets things just right. Where else would you expect to find yourself considering the paintings of Edward Lear or the metrical complexities of the opening paragraph of Karen Blixen’s ‘Out of Africa’? I can see that the books have been chosen, selected with care, rather than just heaped up according to some publishers’ dictates. It makes a difference.
At the end of the day it’s not about the number of people who arrive, or how many copies are sold. It’s about a sense of connection with others who think in similar ways, others who can bring new perspectives, and more wonder to it all. Quality, not quantity.
Back Pages is doing something rare and admirable. It’s providing a place to nurture ideas and grow civilization. To Alex, Daniel, and Abby a huge thank you for a really delightful evening. To the man and woman who were trying to get a last minute baby-sitter so they could come to the talk, thank you; I appreciated the effort taken. And to the photographer and painter from the upstairs studios, whose names I do not know because I have a dreadful memory for names, but who I think were called Dave and Siss (apologies if I got that wrong) likewise thanks for your most enlivening comments.
So take my advice. Check out Back Pages at 289 Moody Street, Waltham. See the dragons first hand. You’ll love the place.
on February 29th, 2008 at 11:49 am
I, too, am a fan of Back Pages Books. (Their new store is ever so much better than the old one.)
Until you noted it, I didn’t realize that - also like you - I prefer any kind of musty book store to Barnes and Noble but I’d failed to make the airport connection.
And, of course, dear administrator, you are so right when you say that at the end of the day “it’s about a sense of connection with others who think in similar ways.” And isn’t that what we love about “Stories We Need To Know?” All the connections?
Signed,
A. Fan
on February 29th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
You are indeed the finest fan anyone could wish for - and Back Pages values you almost as much as I do, I’m sure. Yet I’d have one cavil - the store isn’t musty, but rather airy; the word I’d have chosen is ‘calm’, like the best libraries. When I was a young man I’d make my way to the Oxford Museum’s library of Ethnology purely because of its atmosphere. I’d walk through the spindly Victorian iron pillared/gothic greenhouse that was the Pitt Rivers museum (think of the glass ceiling of Waterloo station placed onto a village church), go past the shrunken heads display from Borneo, past the plesiosaurus, and into a nook of calm that was the library. The British Library may have more books, but, as someone famously said, how many original ideas have started there? It’s an archive, not a place for inspirations, which probably all happened outside that busy atmosphere….
on March 1st, 2008 at 2:15 am
That I inspired such breathtaking prose flatters me no end. Ah, dear Administartor, you do have a way with words.
on March 1st, 2008 at 6:22 pm
Here’s to the independent bookstore. They’re so personable and welcoming, like a good friend. I’ll definitely pay a visit to Back Pages!
on March 2nd, 2008 at 12:46 pm
And let’s hear it for the atmosphere of an independent bookstore or a library no matter which side of “the pond.”