TIME loved the novel State of Wonder. We talk to its author about her new venture, Parnassus Books.
David Sandison / eyevine / Redux
Last week in a Nashville strip mall, a new bookstore opened its doors - a rarity in these days under the reign of Amazon. Parnassus Books (its name is derived from the Greek mountain that is the mythical birthplace of literature) is co-owned by bestselling author Ann Patchett, a Nashville resident who decided to bankroll the venture after coming to the bleak realization that, other than university shops, her hometown was without a bookstore. Patchett, author of this year's State of Wonder and 2001′s Bel Canto, joins Larry McMurtry, Louise Erdrich and Garrison Keillor in that tiny club of successful writers who are also booksellers. Patchett spoke to TIME about the small-town feel of strip malls and the awkward dilemma of how to display her own books.
Parnassus is modestly sized (2,500 square feet) but its opening made national headlines. Did you expect to become a spokeswoman for bookstores?
There's this feeling that Amazon is killing the bookstore. And the eBook has gotten an enormous amount of press, to the point where people are saying, "So I guess it's over." And it's like, "No, it's not." I'm standing up and saying no, the book is alive, the bookstore is alive.
I am speaking for bookstores all across the country. These people are my friends. These are the people who welcome me into their stores for readings, who take me home and cook me dinner and let me sleep in their guest rooms. These people have made me, made my career, made me what I am. So now I can say, "Go and support your local bookstore." What an enormous privilege that is for me. But I had no idea that that would be what this was about.
When I am selling my own book, it's so different. If you were talking to me right now about State of Wonder there is no way I would say "I have written a great book and I have done something important". But this is an opportunity where I can say I am doing something so important.
What needs to change if a new store like Parnassus is going to survive? ...
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