Submitted by Alan Kaufman, Jun 3, 2007 12:30

I'm amazed by this article, the strange, bouncy, upbeat note. For in recent times, here in San Francisco, one of the epicenters of American literary culture, a city with perhaps more writers and proactive book enthusiasists then any city in the world, the bookstore scene has been decimated. One after another has closed its doors. Even the chains are hurting. Though some well-placed second hand bookstores like the Strand, do seem to thrive (trade at our local Strand counterpart, for instance, Green Apple Books, seems as brisk as ever) others have closed. Overall, the situation for bookstores of all kinds is incredibly bleak. The Internet plus dumbed down American culture has pretty much destroyed the commerce and culture of bookstores.

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