"now their selection sucks, and cd's are over $15"

As you may have not gotten from the article—a lot of Bookselling is done on credit—with huge amounts of inventory ordered only to be returned when they don't sell. It's a terribly risk-laden and innefficient (and in the case of mass market paperbacks—literally wasteful) business where every so often you have to pull…

"Masters Degrees in English Lit"

Some Insider Knowledge: Ouch.
I don't know if Ingram has a publishing arm—it may well—but it's actually as the largest, fastest and most reliable distributer of books that Ingram's refusal to work with Borders will most cripple the chain moving forward. Most if not all major publishers use Ingram as their preferred…

"Hendrix ditching the Isley Brothers"

"I don't think I've ever read the full poem"—Neither has its author, supposedly (or is that what you were referring to?). The story goes that Coleridge had a much longer poem in mind but was writing under the influence when someone came to the door and when he was done dealing with the interruption, he'd forgotten…

Reading back—it occurs to me that I never finished my thought, having been overtaken by the idea of national identity in art. Pop itself was not the problem—it was the fact that, if I remember correctly, The Cardigans were a pure Pop BAND at exactly the point where the trend of treacly Pop by Boy bands and Britney…

I hear you JMP—and that idea was also in a Bill Maher bit about Scientology. And while it is true that age lends an air of respectability, we actually do know quite a bit about the origins of at least Christianity, Islam and Buddhism—as they are all three reform or extending elements of existing religions and were…

There's nothing wrong with it—it's a matter of a good thing before its time. I also don't believe 'Moby Dick' should be taught in high school—most kids aren't ready for it.

It's a hell of name for a revolutionary:

Of course, Tolstoy was pretty nutzoid himself.

He's giving us all the high hat.

I just want to blow Blossom Culp a kiss and say how much I love 'The Ghost Belonged to Me'.

kjohnson—I mention 'Julius Caesar' in part because it is part of the 10th grade curiculum where I teach, and 'Romeo and Juliet' is part of the 9th. In my experience students mostly like Shakespeare after 'Romeo & Juliet', but they lose some of their enthusiasm after 'Julius Caesar'. It's not that the first play is…

It's like that time on 'Dr. Who' when the Daleks AND the Cybermen invaded at the same time, right? No?

Say, spicoli—I think there's a cream you can get for that.

http://www.george-orwell.or…

I've thought a lot about King and the "N" word—I always thought he used it purely for it's visceral effects. It's pure transgression in that it bothers White people and Black people alike but in very different ways. It's loaded and it makes people uncomfortable. Without looking too closely at some preteen orgy scene I…

That's hilarious.

Especially when it was originally young boys playing women dressing up as men. Half the jokes turn on the audience knowing the layers of irony there.