Ann Patchett's Invitation to President Obama

Shelf Awareness

 

"It's not such a stretch to say that President Obama was greatly aided by bookstores. Bookstores have, after all, been the originators of many grass-roots movements.

"I've seen plenty of pictures of the president shopping in bookstores with his daughters, so I believe that he loves a good bookstore. I have seen no pictures of the family hunched in front of a computer screen, tapping out orders. But the president has done nothing to curb Amazon's looming monopoly.

"The good news is that, as consumers, we are free to do exactly that. We decide the fate of bookstores, and of literature itself, with every book we buy. If you value your bookstore and think it plays an important role in your community, then buy your books there.

"The next time Mr. Obama is in Tennessee, the staff at Parnassus hopes he'll find the time to visit. We've got some books we'd like him to sign."

--Ann Patchett, author and owner of Parnassus Books, Nashville Tenn., in a Wall Street Journal op-

ed piece this morning