Since locally the independent bookstores disappeared with the rise of the big chain bookstores, long before Amazon was around, it never occurred to me to blame Amazon for that loss. Ironically, despite having more space, the chain stores had a substantially worse selection than the indie stores, so when Amazon came along, it was the clearly superior option, so I can see Amazon taking away the chain store business. Although the trend of more independent bookstores is heartening, somehow I don’t think I’m going to see the good local indie bookstores that were lost ever return, however. Locally, small, highly specialized indie bookstores are the ones that survived and have been re-established. (But they’re not useful if I’m not looking for books within their specialization.) The more general interest bookstores haven’t come back. The dynamics have changed too much, and I don’t think they can be supported the way they were.
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