Give the People What They Want
Being an eminent domain attorney who represents property owners by day and a book seller by night, I was intrigued by a recent story about a new Barnes & Nobles in New Brunswick, New Jersey, the home of Rutgers. I love bookstores and Barnes & Noble is a great big bookstore so my hats off to them. The problem is that the city of New Brunswick threatened to use its power of eminent domain to “clear out” an independent bookstore to make room for the Barnes & Noble. The motivation was undoubtedly higher projected tax revenues from the re-developed site and the big box store. In theory the power of eminent domain reflects the will of the people, which begs the question, is this the will of the people? Goodbye independents and hello big box bookstores? Maybe in New Jersey, but I hope not here in the Sunshine state. By the way, this could not happen under Florida law, and Urban Think isn’t going anywhere. So stop by the store, by a book and show us the will of the people. Read the world but be local. Happy reading. - Bruce
Here’s the article:
Notes: B&N College Enters Rutgers; New Bookstores
Barnes & Noble College will be an anchor tenant in a major mixed-use development that Rutgers University is building in New Brunswick, N.J., where its main campus is, according to the Star-Ledger. B&N becomes Rutgers’s bookseller on Monday, replacing Follett. The Gateway project includes a 44,000-sq.-ft. bookstore that replaces the current 19,000-sq.-ft. store at Ferren Mall and is expected to be completed in two years.
Rutgers president Richard McCormick sounded as though he had attended a prospective booksellers seminar recently, telling the paper, “I have a very ambitious view of our new bookstore. [It] will be a campus center, a gathering place for Rutgers faculty, students and staff and the larger community. There will be readings by authors hopping off the train from New York and Philadelphia. . . . It’s going to be the kind of bookstore that Rutgers needs and deserves.”
New Jersey Books, a private bookstore, had challenged the city’s attempt to seize its property for the development through eminent domain but has since come to an agreement whereby the store is being relocated.
Add comment September 28, 2008
Nancy Davis Kho
In the San Francisco Chronicle, Nancy Davis Kho recalled her summer visit to western Massachusetts, where she was impressed by the buy local movement. Back home, she has sought to adapt a “buying local for the holidays” credo this year that includes bookstores: “Sure, every book I could ever want is available on Amazon.com. The site’s ‘Recommended for You’ technology is great and, for out-of-prints and rare books, I am appreciative of its scope and efficiency. But I’ve never logged on to Amazon in order to sit 3 feet away from a favorite author during a reading, nor does Amazon offer my kids cookies and a couch to sit on while they browse. Those things only happen at my neighborhood bookstore and, because I have a choice, that’s where I’d like my book-buying dollars to go.”
Add comment December 4, 2008
Wednesday, November 12, 2008 9:00 p.m.
Laura Zimmerman is coming to Real.Open.Mic at 9 pm at Urban Think! on Wednesday, November 12th. She will be reading poems from The Light at the Edge of Everything. Laura Zimmerman’s poetry has appeared in the Indian Review, Atlanta Review, Portland Review, Colorado Review, and Redbook. She teaches creative writing at the University of Northern Colorado.
Don’t make me come get you ….
Add comment November 7, 2008
Thursday, November 13,2008 7:00 p.m.
The prize-winning poet and fiction writer Earl Braggs will be reading Thursday, November 13 at Trinity Preparatory School as part of the school’s visiting writers program. He will read and sign books at Trinity House at 7 in the evening. This event is free and open to the public!
Earl S. Braggs, UC Foundation Professor of English, is the author of six books of poetry, including Hat Dancer Blue(1992 Anhinga Prize), Crossing Tecumseh Street, House on Fontanka and In Which Language Do I Keep Silence: New and Selected Poems. He won the 7th Annual Jack Kerouac International Fiction Prize for a chapter from his novel Looking for Jack Kerouac. In addition to many prizes and awards in poetry and fiction, he has received grants from Chattanooga Allied Arts and the Tennessee Commission for the Arts.
Younger Than Neil, his latest collection of poems is forthcomingfrom Anhinga Press in 2009.
Add comment November 7, 2008
Friday, October 24, 2008 7:00 p.m.
Mark Lane signing Sandspurs
Location: UrbanThink! Bookstore
Far from the myth of surf, sand, and orange juice, Mark Lane’s snapshots of life in the Sunshine State are more likely to feature gargantuan insects than bikini-clad coeds. Lane has spent nearly thirty years as a reporter and writer for the Daytona Beach News-Journal. Often compared to Carl Hiaasen, Dave Barry, Jeff Klinkenberg, or Roy Blount Jr., over the past decade his columns have built an intensely loyal following. Lane’s writing is a model of crisp prose, but he is hard to pin down. One moment he’s full of cynicism from decades of listening to fast-talking real-estate developers and lawyers, yet in the next he displays a fierce defensiveness to those who would sweep away the honky-tonk bars and alligator farms that, in his opinion, define the state. His trips to the all-U-can-eat buffet of Florida eccentricities include gardening in a five-season climate (spring, summer, ultrasummer, fallish, and winterish), insights on home fortifications in the face of oncoming hurricanes (definition of an optimist: somebody who takes down his plywood), notes on the World’s Most Famous Beach, and commentary on the two biggest shows in the state: NASCAR and state politics. Sandspurs will allow readers nationwide to discover one of Florida’s most gifted writers.
Add comment October 17, 2008
Thursday, October 23, 2008 6:00 p.m.
Roy Laughlin signs At First Glance
Location: UrbanThink! Bookstore
At First Glance– An Artist�s View of Rockledge�s Historic Residential Neighborhoods is author Roy Laughlin and artist Robert Kronowitt’s beautiful history of Rockledge, an historic community located on Florida’s east coast. Come and meet this talented duo and get a copy of this new book!
Add comment October 17, 2008
Wednesday, October 15, 2008 8:30-9p.m.
Tod C and Darlyn team up to fight illiteracy (and sobriety)
Say, isn’t Urban Think! way overdue for a poetry night? We thought so, too.
That’s why, as of this Wednesday, Oct. 15, spoken word comes to Thornton Park’s favorite indie bookstore in the form of Real Open Mic. (The capital letters are so you know it’s really real.)
The good news:
- It starts at 8:30-9 p.m. every Wednesday (and ends at 11), so you can still take in our other esteemed poetry nights like Soft Exposure (at Infusion Tea) and Wednesday Open Words (at Austin’s). If you’re not doing that already, what the hell is wrong with you? Get out there.
- It’s too much poetry for one host! Tod Caviness will trade off hosting duties with Darlyn Finch, with Tod taking the reins for the first night.
After that, the night becomes a lumbering schizophrenic maniac! Will it be Darlyn this week? Tod? BOTH? Gamble amongst yourselves.
- It’s uncensored, unfiltered, and Tod would certainly not be within miles of this place if they didn’t have great beer. Buy some.
The bad news:
- There isn’t any. See you there, party people.
Tod and Darlyn
Add comment October 15, 2008
Thursday, October 16, 2008 5-7pm
chART member appreciation celebration at Shari Sushi Lounge in Thornton Park Central, Thurs. Oct. 16, 5-7pm. chART members get a complimentary glass of red or white wine of the manager’s choice and
the Shari happy hour $3 menu for sushi and drinks!
&
Next door at Infusion Tea & Wine Cafe in Urban Think Bookstore chART members get a complimentary glass of red or white wine of the manager’s choice! Double fun!
Add comment October 15, 2008
Saturday, October 18, 2008 7:00 p.m.
Out of the Book Event with State by State
Location: UrbanThink! Bookstore
Join us for the premier showing of our third Out of the Book film, State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America, edited by Matt Weiland and Sean Wilsey. The film’s subject couldn’t be more timely or topical. The hardcover book, to be published in September, introduces original writing from fifty prominent authors and artists. Each contributor addresses one state. Jonathan Franzen considers New York. Louise Erdrich, S.E. Hinton, Dave Eggers, John Hodgman, Susan Orlean, Joshua Ferris, Alison Bechdel… the pedigree is sterling! Approximately ten of the book’s contributors will star in “Out of the Book, Volume 3: State by State.” The State by State collection resurrects an effort from the 1930s, when the WPA created the Federal Writers’ Project, commissioning America’s writers to describe their states. As a Presidential election fast approaches, the book and film look at America anew. Don’t miss this special evening at Urban Think!
Add comment October 13, 2008
Saturday, October 18, 2008 2:00 p.m.
Patrick Sweet to sign The Book of American Should-Dos
Location: UrbanThink! Bookstore
Orlando native Patrick Sweet has compiled a VERY enjoyable and provocative collection of suggestions guaranteed to improve your life: “Sing.” “Name the squirrels in their yard.” “DO, rather than just discuss doing.” Not only are they personal suggestions– they’re actually global, because if enough people stopped to appreciate the good in the world… think of the further good we could do! Stop by and say hello to Patrick and check out his remarkable book.
Add comment October 13, 2008
Monday, Oct. 13, 2008 6p.m.
Poetry Reading With Carol Frost
Location: Cornell Fine Arts Museum
Come meet our new Theodore Bruce and Barbara Lawrence Alfond Chair of Creative Writing and Director of Winter with the Writers. Come hear her poetry. It’s a year of poetry at Rollins College. Join us in the Cornell Fine Arts Museum. The reading starts at 6 PM and will be over in time for your Holt School class. Reception and booksigning to follow.
Add comment October 9, 2008
