Oscar Wilde to close

Another casualty of the financial crises they say. No, I am not speaking of the venerable author but the bookstore in New York.

I distinctly remember year ago when I was new to this country I was wandering the steets aimlessly with Puja and we happened to see this tiny bookstore. Those were the days when I was really high on his writings, his aphorisms and mannerisms. I was blown away to see a bookstore in his name. I promptly entered and started looking at the books. It didn't take long before I realized that it wasn't exactly the kind of bookstore I was expecting. No, no clear homage to Oscar Wilde in celebration of his plays or his writings or hosting of other authors in the smililar vein. No. This was a bookstore specializing in guy and lesbian books. Now, I have precious little interest in those topics specially in those days and even now my interest remains spotty, not that there is anything inherently wrong with that genre. I sped out promptly from the store almost feeling cheated. I had gone to see one side of Wilde's personality and was reminded that it was the other side that was really of interest to folks in my new adopted country.

Every day and every trip is a lesson.

Well, just read this in the Times this morning that the bookstore is closing. It cannot survive in the current climate of economic collapse. People have stopped spending money and specially on exotic topics and even more so at exotic bookshops.

The 'closing time' continues...

Is Yahoo already sold?

So Yahoo shuts dooors of its DRM-based music store and guess what happens to any music anyone bought from their DRM stores. It is not going to be playable beyond September anymore when they shut their DRM servers down. Wow! Maybe Yahoo has already been sold to Microsoft. Maybe not in the way you think but in ideology. Microsoft just did the very same thing a few months ago. Amazing. Apparently companies will continue to sodomize their customers and then wonder why the customers ran away? I don't get it.

Another one bits the dust

The giant Barnes & Noble store on 6th Ave and 23rd street closed a few weeks ago. This is just another one of those things that I like that has ended unceremoniously. Most restaurants either stop serving dishes we like if they've not shut doors already. Most stores we like close doors. Most things we like deteriorate. Very strange how that works.

Anyway, this closing of B&N is particularly troubling. This was one of those places where I could go to after work once in a while and be just between books. No one but me and books. I could browse through, buy and just feel elevated in some snobbish but very real sense.

But of course, all good things (and even some bad ones) must come to an end. The big bookstore closed without much fanfare. I fear that it will be replaced by an Old Navy. It is strange how we want to put less and less inside our heads and more and more on our bodies.

I wonder kids will ever even know a bookstore other than Amazon ?(which I have nothing against but doesn't make up for B&N for ambiance)