Despite not being in Jorge Carrión’s list of notable bookshops (see previous posting), Portland, Oregon or should I say Powell’s Books is known unto itself as the City of Books. While making our second visit to Portland, we decided ahead of time that we would at least try to go beyond the Powell’s influence and look for other book places of interest.
Denise and I did spend some time in the architecturally impressive Portland City Library. They were having their Friends of the Library holiday sale, and I had to resist picking up a replacement copy of The Sympathizer (2016). And they had literary socks, if I wanted them. We enjoyed the Beverly Cleary Library Room – a book room that has low shelves of children’s books wonderfully displayed along with a large tree sculpture. I had forgotten that Cleary had grown up in Portland and her Ramona books, which both my daughters read vociferously, were set in Portland. Dana Lynn Louis and Barbara Eiswerth designed the sculpture for “teaching children another way of living.”
We also went to Oblation Papers & Press to look at stationary, vintage typewriters and their letter press printing machines.
Denise and I also stayed at the historic Heathman Hotel, which prides itself on its reading room where signed first editions from writers who have stayed there filled the shelves. Since I always travel with a copy of Down & Outbound: A Mass Transit Satire, I debated to sneak it onto the shelves, but refrained.
Inside the High-Rise at the City of Books
On the trip I brought a list of books I wanted to review firsthand. Online shopping is no substitute for browsing and I ended up purchasing several books: W.B. Sebald’s Austerlitz, (2001) which Carrión wrote about extensively in his book, a David Shields book of essays, Other People: Takes & Mistakes (2017) and Paul Beatty’s White Boy Shuffle (1996). Shields is one of my favorite writers and reading more Beatty has been on my radar ever since I read The Sellout. I am currently reading White Boy Shuffle and it does not disappoint. You can really tell the difference in the prose when the writer began as a poet. (See the posting about Beatty and Viet Thanh Nguyen’s The Sympathizer.)
Wisely, I did not leave my copy of Down & Outbound at the Heathman. Powell’s has a section for small presses, and I was able to chat with the curator of that section, who warily accepted a copy of D & O for evaluation. I made it as easy as possible for him, leaving him with a self-addressed, Christmas stamped postcard with a quick survey. On the back of the postcard, the curator could check all the boxes that applied:
____ I like D & O as it is and would be interested in stocking it..
____ If D & O had conventional binding I would have been interested in stocking it.
____ I like/ appreciate D & O, the book and idea but not for Powell's
____ I don't think this book does not work for me.
Since returning, I’ve been running out to the mailbox every day, but I wonder if it is a futile exercise considering that the Atlanta United defeated the Portland Timbers 2-0 in the Major League Soccer championship. (People in Portland were politely quizzing me about it throughout our visit.) No hard feelings, Portland. Remember you’re still a much, much better book town than Atlanta.
Postscript
UPDATE: January 19, 2019 - Much to my delight I received the aforementioned postcard from Powell's and though the curator checked the following, I do appreciate getting a response, which I interpret as either a semi-rejection or partial victory depending on my frame of mind
____ I like D & O as it is and would be interested in stocking it..
___X_ If D & O had conventional binding I would have been interested in stocking it. _X__ I like/ appreciate D & O, the book and idea but not for Powell's ____ I don't think this book works for me.
Comments