Rebel Bookseller Why Indie Bookstores Represent Everything You Want to Fight for from Free Speech to Buying Local to Building Communities

Therevivalofindependentbooksellinghasalreadybegunandisoneoftheamazingstoriesofourtimes.BooksellerAndyLatieswrotethefirsteditionofRebelBooksellersixyearsago,hopingitwouldsparkamovement.Now,withthissecondedition,Laties’sbookcanbearallyingcryforeveryonewhowantstobetterunderstandhowtheriseofthebigbookstorechainsledirrevocablytotheirdecline,andhoweveninthefaceofelectronicreadersfromthreeofAmerica’slargestandmostsuccessfulcompanies—Apple,Amazon,andGoogle—themovementtosupportlocallyownedindependentstores,especiallybookstores,isontherise.Fromthemid-1980stothepresent,AndyLatieshasbeenanindependentbookseller,startingoutinChicago,teachingalongthewayattheAmericanBooksellersAssociation,andfinallyrunningthebookshopattheEricCarleMuseuminAmherst,Massachusetts.HisinnovationswereadaptedbyBarnes&Noble,ZanyBrainy,andscoresofindependentstores.InRebelBookseller,Latiestellshowhegotstarted,howhekeptgoing,andwhyhebelievesindependentbooksellinghasagreatfuture.Healternateshisnarrativewithshortanecdotes,interludesbetweenthechaptersthatgivehiscredoasabookseller.Alongtheway,heexplainsthegrowthofthechains,andthrowsinatreasuretroveoftipsforanyonewhoisconsideringopeningupabookstore.RebelBooksellerisamustreadforthoseinthebookbiz,atestamenttotheingeniousnessofonemanman’sstoryofmakingalifeoutofhispassionatecommitmenttobooksandbookselling.