The local Barnes and Noble on Veterans Boulevard houses a host of fascinating characters, creating a museum of people for the watchful reader who, seated in a plush chair in the corner of the store, can occasionally look up from his book and shoot curious glances at the people surrounding him. As customers, browsers, readers, and studiers walk through the double doors of the book lover’s haven, the seated observer can watch each individual move towards his task, whether it is simply browsing the countless shelves of the store for an interesting find or selecting an assortment of magazines with which to waste time in the company of his Starbucks coffee. Although one may not initially notice the different groups of people that frequent Barnes and Noble, when he studies the people walking in and out of the store, he will notice three distinct groups. While some customers are honestly and directly searching for a specific item in the bookstore, the coffee-drinking readers, the impish denizens of the children’s section, and the aimless shelf browsers compose the three separate clusters of people that cause Barnes and Noble to be a museum of sorts, forming an interesting view for a curious spectator.
The bookworm or magazine reader, coffee in hand, provides entertainment through the quirky habits and mannerisms he practices throughout his sojourn at Barnes and Noble. The book-reading customer of the attached coffee shop sits at his table, sipping on a frozen coffee while reading a magazine or book that he does not intend to pay for. He uses Barnes and Noble as a library, walking in, selecting a book or a collection of magazines, and seating himself at one of the many reading areas; the adjacent Starbucks Coffee is the most popular loc...
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...e the eccentricity of its inhabitants. The book and magazine readers entertain the observer as they irately glance at the chatterers disturbing their peaceful reading session. The children, with their cheerful scampering, fussy whines, and lighthearted giggles, provide the onlooker with a laughable, perhaps bothersome spectacle. The browsing wanderer roves the store for interesting finds and appreciates books for what they truly are, particles of knowledge, waiting to be cracked open by his and others’ curious minds. These three groups of peculiar people make up the residents of the local Barnes and Noble, a museum for the curious observer. As the people-watcher begins to leave is cornered leather chair after observing the curious clientele, he closes his own book, stands up, and strolls out of the store, knowing that he will return again soon to read and observe.
Almost twenty years later, contemplating the contemporary American publishing scene, I feel a Bealean rage coming on (and with it a vague longing for one of his fits).While three percent of the American population in 1976 would have been a little over six million readers, recent surveys suggest that the consistent buyers of books in this country now total no more than half that number, and may even be as few as one million.[1]
Wal-mart is currently the world’s largest company. It has seen continuous growth and financial success since it was founded in 1962. Today it is living off of a previous reputation of solid ethical business practices that are no longer being exercised. Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-mart, was considered to be “freakishly cheap… Cost-cutting was an obsession in the Wal-mart culture… on business trips, everyone, including the boss, flew coach, and hotel rooms were always shared.” (reclaimdemocracy.org. 2006). This was only part of the reason for Sam Walton’s success.
In a world dominated by technology, reading novels has become dull. Instead of immersing into books, we choose to listen to Justin Bieber’s new songs and to scroll through Instagram posts. We have come to completely neglect the simple pleasures of flipping through pages and getting to finally finish a story. Sherman Alexie and Stephan King’s essays attempt to revive this interest in books that has long been lost. They remind us of the important role that reading plays in our daily lives. “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me,” for instance, demonstrates how being literate saved the narrator from the oppressive nature of society. The author explains that even though he was capable of reading complex books at an astonishingly young
Over the years Wal-Mart has been under heavy scrutiny for their treatment of employees. Poor work conditions, inadequate health plans and low wages are among the problems that many Wal-Mart employees face. Like every other company, Wal-Mart’s main goal is to make profit; however, they do so at the expense of their employees. This adds to the criticism, “Wal-Mart fails to pay its employees a living wage.”(Bauer)
There are two types of people in this world, the first ones are, the people who doesn't really like reading books because most of them doesn't have pictures on it, and they find it extremely boring. Then the other type of people, who simply gets lost into their book every time they read, because they just simply love reading. Some of them even say that when they're reading, it is taking them to a different world that only their imagination can create. That is why some people consider their books as their most priced possessions, because of how much it means to them and also some books can be rather pricey. Indeed, books can really be expensive, however, you might be too astonished when you see the following books, because they're considered
In the library she would alternate what types of books they would read. Whenever she would read to him she would read in a way that made you cling to every word the author wrote. In times like these, Rodriguez would become engaged in these books. “I sat there and sensed for the very first time some possibility of fellowship between reader and writer, a communication, never intimate like that I heard spoken words at home convey, but nonetheless personal.” (Rodriguez 228). During this part of Rodriguez’s life, his view towards books changed.
Ever since I was a child, I've never liked reading. Every time I was told to read, I would just sleep or do something else instead. In "A Love Affair with Books" by Bernadete Piassa tells a story about her passion for reading books. Piassa demonstrates how reading books has influenced her life. Reading her story has given me a different perspective on books. It has showed me that not only are they words written on paper, they are also feelings and expressions.
In the “age of electronic entertainment”, Harry Potter novels sharply contrast by luring children away from the internet, and away from video games and the television. Children across the globe are rapidly becoming interested in reading the novels. Katherine Thompson, owner of Frugal Frigate Bookstore, declared the series a “literary phenomena.” She noted that children as young as eight-years-old will devour...
In every bookstore across America, people are faced with the tough question of what book should be bought. There are millions of books resting on shelves everywhere but what makes a reader pick up a novel to buy and read? Looking at book covers people can get ideas about what type of book is in their hands. Most books grab their audience by the way that they look on the outside. Many different authors and publishers choose famous works of art or use book reviewer’s comments to grab a specific audience for their book. When children are looking for books, they choose a book because of what is on the cover. Parents can view the cover as appropriate for their child. It is the cover that initially grabs the attention. Even as children grow up and begin reading books with few to no pictures, it is still the cover that says what kind of book it is.
The excitement is building up inside of me, just like Eudora Welty feels when she reads, as described in a passage from One Writer’s Beginnings. I know exactly what I am looking for; two purses for my mother and sister. Nothing to big, or to small. One is going to be black, one brown. Try as I might to keep my mind on the task at hand, it is difficult to concentrate on just purses when there are fascinating items all around me! Leather jackets, jewelry, bolt upon bolt of the most gorgeous fabrics I have ever seen, and so much more. I can’t help but walk over to the people when they call to me; I am drawn by their eagerness and obvious love for their product. They have to be really great scarves if the man holding them thinks so much of them,...
In 1945, Sam Walton opened his first variety store and in 1962, he opened his first Wal-Mart Discount City in Rogers, Arkansas. Now, Wal-Mart is expected to exceed “$200 billion a year in sales by 2002 (with current figures of) more than 100 million shoppers a week…(and as of 1999) it became the first (private-sector) company in the world to have more than one million employees.” Why? One reason is that Wal-Mart has continued “to lead the way in adopting cutting-edge technology to track how people shop, and to buy and deliver goods more efficiently and cheaply than any other rival.” Many examples exist throughout Wal-Mart’s history including its use of networks, satellite communication, UPC/barcode adoption and more. Much of the technology that was utilized helped Sam Walton more efficiently track what he originally noted on yellow legal pads. From the very beginning, he wanted to know what the customers purchased, what inventory was selling and what stock was not selling. Wal-Mart now “tracks on an almost instantaneous basis the ordering, shipment, and delivery of literally every item it sells, and that it requires its suppliers to hook into the system, enabling it to track most goods every step of the way from the time they’re made and packaged in the factories to when they’re carried out store doors by shoppers.” “Wal-Mart operates the world’s most powerful corporate computing system, with a capacity (as of late 1999) of more than 100 terabytes of data (A terabyte is 1,000 gigabytes, or roughly the equivalent of 250 million pages of text.).
Jeff Bezos, founder, chief executive officer, president, and board chairman of the mega Internet store Amazon.com is considered one of the most innovative entrepreneurs of the e-commerce industry. At the age of 31, with just a computer science degree, little funding from his family, and a challenging idea, Bezos set out to pursuit his entrepreneurial vision of a internet bookstore which had turn into the biggest online retailer of our times (Jeff Bezos, 2007).
Confusion about what it means to own a book leads people to a false reverence for paper, binding, and type - a respect for the physical thing - the craft of the printer rather than the genius of the author. They forget that it is possible for a man to acquire the idea, to possess the beauty, which a great book contain...
Standing a mere three feet tall at most, it guards the door of my bedroom as a silent sentry. Its dual levels have been incessantly reordered to house each item in an aesthetic and efficient manner. The faded brown of the wood highlights the array of bright covers that lay at the front, patiently waiting to be withdrawn and analyzed once more. This humble bookcase is the crowning jewel of my personal space. The walls are lined with a diverse selection of truly enthralling books, all penned by arguably the most astute minds of all time. The knowledge of centuries lies at my finger tips, breathlessly hungering for me to turn the pages and absorb its riches.
Just like waking up in the morning and inhaling my first conscious-breath of the day, reading is something essential to me. As I child, I used to dream of having my own and private reading place where I would sit and spend my whole day reading my favorite books without any disturbance. Thanks to my dreams, I now have a wonderful private library in my house. This place is not similar to any other ordinary library but a mini place where you can find a massive number of interesting books of different varieties.