McNally Robinson Bankruptcy.

In March of 2008 I lamented the loss of McNally's Robinson's bookstore in downtown Calgary. It was hard for me to understand how such a great book store could fail in a city like Calgary. Their only competition was a small Coles store in Eaton Centre.  Today the independent chain has filed for bankruptcy and will be closing their two newest stores in Don Mills and Winnipeg. (G&M Story)

Aside from Pages in Kensigton, I spent a lot of time in McNally Robinson's store.  Independent book sellers are rare now and their survival always seems to be against the odds.  Maybe as consumers its just easier to buy what Chapters or Oprah want us to read.

The plight of independent bookstores probably has to do with the economies of scale and the basic tough business model of retail.  But I still wonder about this issue from a cultural point of view. Are we less interested in books? What about the role of the internet?  I know from listening to the radio in Calgary, or reading one of the two daily papers, there is really a strong effort to dumb us down and pander to short attention spans. Book stores should be an antidote to that, and are also a cultural force that promote literacy and local authors.

Hopefully McNally Robinson can emerge from the restructuring to hang on to the original store in Winnipeg and compete on the internet as well. 

Support your local independent book seller. Please recommend this post

Wild Rose Anthology.

Another great Anthology of short stories written by Alberta writers. The collection is edited by George Melnyk and Tamara Palmer Seiler both academics and authors based at the University of Calgary. Nice to see the U of C get noticed for something other than pro-war think thanks.

The contributing authors include: Ninoxkyaio, Mary Schaffer, Fred Stenson, Monica Hopkins,Georges Bugnet, Illia Kiriak, Christine van der Mark, Kerry Wood, Henry Kriesal, George Ryga, W.P. Kinsella, Andy Russell, Howard O'Hagan, Sheila Watson, Sid Marty, Thomas Wharton, Rudy Wiebe, Katherine Govier, Cherly Foggo, Sam Selvon, Joy Kogawa, Robert Kroetsch, Aritha van Herk, Myrna Kostash, Hiromi Goto, Hugh Dempsey, W.O. Mitchell, Emma Lee Warrior, and Thomas King.

There's a few authors here that are new to me. Thomas Wharton and Christin van der Mark are authors whose novels I now want to read. van der Mark wrote her first novel Due Season in the late 1940's and was probably overshadowed by W.O. Mitchell who wrote Who Has Seen the Wind around the same time.

I like Alberta and Canadian fiction. They usually hit a sweet spot when they are well written and are set in your own back yard.

ISBN 1-55238-079-3 Published by University of Calgary Press.

Possible maybe related posts. Please recommend this post

David Hockney Gives Me Pleasure

I came across this great book of David Hockney's paintings and photographs, with great reproduction quality and just the right amount of commentary. Hockey is a UK born artist who is a painter first, but also is good at photography. He also designs sets for Opera and stage.

My favourite Hockney painting is called Garrowby Hill (image above left). The colors and the vantage point are just too much. The painting is based on the countryside around Yorkshire but it reminds me a lot of the scenery in Alberta. I've always wanted this painting.

I also want the book. I'm not much into coffee table books but this I would make an exception for. It would also make a good bathroom book. Not that putting a book in a bathroom is in any way an insult. Its a luxury that you can look at a book and take your time, possible while in the midst of a difficult passing.

Hey, what are you doing in there hurry up!
Nothing. I'll be out in a second.
Don't touch my art books!


Or even as a bedside book...

Honey, you never make love to me anymore.
Huh?
You just flip through that Hackney book every night.
Hockney.


Title: David Hockney
Authors: Paul Melia and Ulrich Luckhardt
ISBN: 3-7913-2413-6
Dewey: 759.2 HOC Please recommend this post