Thursday, January 16, 2014

Bye Bye Book City or The Depths of Existential Hell

BookCity in the Annex is closing its doors sometime this spring, according to a CBC report. A nasty surprise that. The store recently opened its upper floor again so as a long time fan of this particular location - I don't find other BookCitys nearly as congenial as the one just west of Bathurst and Bloor here in Hogtown - I was as pleased as punch. Now where will I spend my money? There's BMV a little farther east, and a few secondhand places here and there, but nowhere else. The quite exceptional David Mirvish Books closed in 2009. (I wonder what happened to the spectacular Frank Stella mural on that store's back wall.) Of course, I could save up and buy myself an e-reader - for downloads from Gutenberg an electronic gizmo makes all kinds of sense - but I'd worry about dropping it or leaving it somewhere or having some light-fingered larrikin help himself to it. And anyway, unless it's a pricy hardback of some particular distinction or a signed first edition, I read with a pencil at the ready and scrawl all over the margins.

It's cold, miserable and a long favoured bookstore is closing. Is there no respite from this existential hell? Well, yes there is or no there isn't. At Comedy Bar at 945 Bloor Street West on January 19 there's Book Club, billed as "A thoughtful and intimate comedy show exploring Canadian novels." See what I mean? Tickets are five and ten bucks.             

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