This is the first of a short series about bookstores of interest:
Eighth Day Books: Wichita, Kansas
I received a promotional email from one of my favorite book stores – Eighth Day Books in Wichita, Kansas, which I visited a couple of years ago (see here). Eighth Day has specialized in the classic books of art, science and the humanities since 1988. Every year they publish a fantastic catalog (cover art shown) and if you contact them they will put you on their mailing list for next month's release. In the meantime you should visit their website and check out their blog, which contains information about their current Spring sale (15% off and free shipping thru Sunday, May 22) and has a link to Eighth Day owner Warren Farha's essay, “Why Bother with Books”
In Farha's essay, he begins with a few experiences of how he loved books as a youth (reinforcing the consensus that it is passion that is nurtured in the young). But Farha also draws on the works of Mark Bauerlein, Nicholas Carr and one of my favorite writers Neil Postman making a compelling argument about the pitfalls of reading books digitally. It reminds me of Marshall McLuhan who wrote in Understanding Media (1964) that how we process information (the format of the information) is as important as the content. Hence, the phrase the “Medium is the Message.”
Coincidentally, I am reading the book I bought at Eighth Day, 18 months ago – Donald Kagen's The Peloponnesian War, about the thirty years war between Sparta and Athens, which lasted from 431 to 404 BC. Admittedly it takes me time to get around to reading what I thought would be challenging book, but I've been pleasantly surprised how readable Kagen's history has been (the book is promoted as such). So far I've found it fascinating and relevant to our world today, especially when he writes about what qualities are necessary for a great leader. An erudite friend teased me that Kagen version was like drinking scotch with ginger ale, but my comeback was, “Well, if I were to drink Scotch, I'd probably have start with ginger ale.”
If I survive the Kagen book, I might hold the ginger ale and take a look at Landmark Thucydides : A Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War by: Robert B. Strassler, which has been highly recommended by Farha and my friend.
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