I spent a few years working in different bookstores. I don' t miss the low pay, weird hours, and being on my feet all day, but the job was satisfying. A few thoughts.
- I doubt that it is any consolation, but your resume might have been held against you. They may have thought that you would be likely to leave soon. I always found the notion of being overqualified weird, but apparently it exists.
-The appearance thing was surprising; I'm not sure it would have happened at my stores. We may have been wearing Borders T-shirts, but the idea always was that you looked professional.
-You may have had O.J.'s Mutant Message From Mars, but at least you weren't there for the Fifty Shades era.
-It may have been a matter of working at fairly large stores, but we sold a certain amount of quality literature. One tip, if you ever find yourself working at a bookstore again: Charity book drives are a good way to do it. If they don't have one, suggest it. We had one two or three times a year because they were a wonderful revenue str- I mean, a great chance to do some good in this world. They are usually for something child oriented (local school district, foster care system.) Apparently a lot of people felt that the kids would want to read To Kill A Mockingbird, or Pride & Prejudice, or at least Madeline.
_The concept of the Crime of the Century has long interested me. (In fairness, I always assume that the is an unspoken American in there, the same way that when we refer to the Senate, wo don't need it is not the same as the one in ancient Rome. Also, political crimes are generally considered different than regular one.) There have been several books with "Crime of the Century" in the title, generally referring to different crimes. It has led me to occasionally joke that in America, the Crime of the Century happens, on average, about once a decade. I actually tried making a list of the Crimes of the Century for each decade. (The 1970s and 1980s were hardest, for some reason.) I have actually considered writing an essay on the subject, although that has the problems of tracking down a bunch of books, reading some depressing accounts of human evil, and I don't know how to actually get it published. For what it is worth. the Crime of the Century is not a 20th century invention, either. In the early 1980s a writer named Jack Finney wrote a book titled Forgotten News: The Crime of the Century and Other Lost Stories. It was taken from stories in 19th century New York papers. He intended to write a lot of short account on dozens of subjects, but ended up writing the bulk of it on the murder of Dr. Harvey Burdell in 1857. There were apparently a couple other Crimes of the (19th) Century, but Lizzie Borden has stomped them all flat.
_Thanks for the chance to reminisce. I'm glad I don't work at a bookstore anymore, but I'm also kind of glad I once did.
I spent a few years working in different bookstores. I don' t miss the low pay, weird hours, and being on my feet all day, but the job was satisfying. A few thoughts.
- I doubt that it is any consolation, but your resume might have been held against you. They may have thought that you would be likely to leave soon. I always found the notion of being overqualified weird, but apparently it exists.
-The appearance thing was surprising; I'm not sure it would have happened at my stores. We may have been wearing Borders T-shirts, but the idea always was that you looked professional.
-You may have had O.J.'s Mutant Message From Mars, but at least you weren't there for the Fifty Shades era.
-It may have been a matter of working at fairly large stores, but we sold a certain amount of quality literature. One tip, if you ever find yourself working at a bookstore again: Charity book drives are a good way to do it. If they don't have one, suggest it. We had one two or three times a year because they were a wonderful revenue str- I mean, a great chance to do some good in this world. They are usually for something child oriented (local school district, foster care system.) Apparently a lot of people felt that the kids would want to read To Kill A Mockingbird, or Pride & Prejudice, or at least Madeline.
_The concept of the Crime of the Century has long interested me. (In fairness, I always assume that the is an unspoken American in there, the same way that when we refer to the Senate, wo don't need it is not the same as the one in ancient Rome. Also, political crimes are generally considered different than regular one.) There have been several books with "Crime of the Century" in the title, generally referring to different crimes. It has led me to occasionally joke that in America, the Crime of the Century happens, on average, about once a decade. I actually tried making a list of the Crimes of the Century for each decade. (The 1970s and 1980s were hardest, for some reason.) I have actually considered writing an essay on the subject, although that has the problems of tracking down a bunch of books, reading some depressing accounts of human evil, and I don't know how to actually get it published. For what it is worth. the Crime of the Century is not a 20th century invention, either. In the early 1980s a writer named Jack Finney wrote a book titled Forgotten News: The Crime of the Century and Other Lost Stories. It was taken from stories in 19th century New York papers. He intended to write a lot of short account on dozens of subjects, but ended up writing the bulk of it on the murder of Dr. Harvey Burdell in 1857. There were apparently a couple other Crimes of the (19th) Century, but Lizzie Borden has stomped them all flat.
_Thanks for the chance to reminisce. I'm glad I don't work at a bookstore anymore, but I'm also kind of glad I once did.
Thanks for all the info. I will have to check out the Jack Finney book. I’ve read most of his fiction but no nonfiction.