Field Notes from a Bookseller: The Election Edition
And how Elizabeth Strout is getting me through
A few months ago I finally picked up Elizabeth Strout’s My Name is Lucy Barton. It was becoming ridiculous that I had yet to read this book. I had read Oh, William immediately followed by Lucy by the Sea, and had loved them both. I was a new reader of Strout’s, and quickly became a fan. Lucy is one of my favourite literary characters so it was surprising to me that I had dropped the ball here and not gone back to the beginning of her story. I’ll get to it eventually, I said.
Well fast forward to just a few weeks ago, on the eve of my travels, I dusted it off and read the first chapter. Then the next. Then I tossed it in my bag to take with me, then completely forgot about it for the next week as I became distracted and distressed with the state of the world.
I couldn’t settle my anxious mind. I couldn’t focus on the page.
I’ve spent the past two weeks in the American south, so of course the election has me preoccupied, and I find myself, during this very fraught period of time, trying to make sense of it all. And I while I couldn’t - can’t - I decided to at least try to understand a little bit more.
So I reached out to bookstores across America to help shed light on what’s really happening in their cities, and in their stores, and as I heard back from booksellers, and had conversations, I noticed I started to feel better. Slowly, I picked up my book again.
Lucy also made me feel better, as did Elizabeth Strout.
“Sarah Payne, the day she told us to go to the page without judgment, reminded us that we never knew, and never would know, what it would be like to understand another person fully.”
― Elizabeth Strout, My Name Is Lucy Barton
As did Dale, Janet, and Lynn, three booksellers who helped me try to make sense of it all. Read on as they open up about book bans, what’s really happening in their cities, why voters are voting the way they are, and what’s really at stake with this election.
Dale Julian, owner, Downtown Books & Purl, Apalachicola, Florida
“A man visits every winter, always wearing the latest in a seemingly endless collection of hats with provocative political mottos. He always orders the latest conspiracy theory titles, noting that I don’t have them in stock. One year I said, “You don’t have order these books here, Jack. They’re readily available.” His reply: “No, I want to buy from you. It’s very important to me that independent bookstores like yours stay in business and thrive”. Where do you go with that? We’re friends.”
With the election coming up, what is the mood and climate like in your area?
Florida Panhandle yard signs endorsing Republican candidates and ballot initiatives far outnumber Democratic ones. The swing-state era is over. People here in Franklin County are voting early in record numbers.
Tell me about the Book Banning that is happening in Florida.
Organized groups are using scripted talking points to challenge public and school library collections. They often fail to clearly articulate what they’re objecting to. A 20-year-old picture book called Everywhere Babies was tossed out of a school system last year. The illustrations show adorable infants sleeping and playing. Downtown Books carries the usual suspects – To Kill a Mockingbird, A Wrinkle in Time, Harry Potter – and I can honestly say that I’ve never been challenged. I do occasionally find an offending book turned face-down, but that’s easy to fix. I don’t put these books all together in one place, like on a Banned Books table, because that’s just buying into the nonsense.
Janet Geddis, business owner/founder, Avid Bookshop, Athens, Georgia
Tell me a little about the book bans happening across the country, and in your state of Georgia.
When it comes to book bans, there are lots of smart opinions from booksellers out there. I would like to bring attention to the fact that we filed a federal lawsuit in spring 2024 related to banned/restricted reading options for incarcerated persons. The First Amendment Clinic at UGA (Univ. of Georgia, here in Athens) and other legal experts are helping us with this case. We hope to emerge victorious, setting a precedent that could make it feasible for independent bookstores nationwide to help jail and prison residents access a wide range of reading material. Read more here: Avid Bookshop Files First Amendment Lawsuit.
How do you counteract the book bans in your store?
Among many other things, we work with students, teachers, and parents to make sure they have access to books, placing an emphasis on the ones that are being challenged or banned in our area or elsewhere. We hosted the ACLU Banned Bus Tour earlier this fall.
How important are bookstores (and libraries) right now?
They're absolutely essential. Essential to our health, our brains, our relationships, our livelihoods, our communities, our conversations, our businesses, our education, our elders, our children, our rich, our poor, and on and on.
With the election coming up, what is the mood and climate like in your area?
Here in Athens, GA, there's a pervasive mix of optimism and angst. We and many of our customers are activist-oriented, and we're really encouraged about the number of voters turning out in Athens-Clarke County as well as the state as a whole. That said, the hatred, bigotry, misogyny, world strife, effects of climate change, etc., etc. have traumatized nearly everyone in degrees both large and small. So it's pretty much impossible to be glowingly optimistic.
What are you seeing?
Sales have been a little slower than we'd like, but that's not unsurprising. Election years, especially extremely fraught ones, can do that. We are focusing on our role as a community space where folks can seek solace, affirmation, and/or distraction through books and conversations that take place in this space.
What is at stake with this election?
Everything. Not hyperbole.
(I don't really have a response here--it's too complex to encapsulate for a Q&A.)
Lynn Mooney, co-owner, Women & Children First, Chicago, Illinois
You're in Chicago, IL - what's happening in the state right now?
We’re so proud of our governor, J.B. Pritzker, and our lieutenant governor, Juliana Stratton, and their leadership on a whole range of issues, including a woman’s right to choose and book banning.
Tell me a little about the book bans happening across the country, and in your state.
We are proud that book bans are illegal in our state. But that doesn’t mean we can be complacent! About a year and a half ago we started a Banned Books book group here, and it’s been very popular! We read brand-new books that have been attacked—often for LGBTQ content—as well as older books that have been challenged and banned for decades. I think alternating between the two has made our discussions even richer, because we’re also exploring how what books get published has changed over time, as well as what ideas and topics people find threatening has changed (or not) over time. Also, besides books banned in US schools and libraries, we’ve read books banned in prisons (Kindred) and banned in other countries (Persepolis and The Kite Runner). And I love helping there be more people out there who, if All Boys Aren’t Blue or The Hate U Give come up in conversation, can say, “Hey! I’ve read that book and thought about it a lot. I know there are readers hungering for that book, needing what it offers so they can imagine what their own future might look like, or to feel seen or safe in their life today…” I think all of these conversations about banning must include people who have READ the books in question, as well as people who think in terms of who the book is for, who can benefit from the book, rather than only those (who seem to have the loudest voices these days) who fear potential harm or want to politicize a topic or identity.
How important are bookstores (and libraries) right now?
CRITICAL.
With the election coming up, what is the mood and climate like in your area?
Chicago, Ill., is a blue city in a blue state. We’re also located in a very LGBTQ-friendly neighborhood in that blue city and blue state. Also, our store is a 45-year-old feminist bookstore. As intersectional feminists, we consider trans-affirmation and anti-racism (among other things) to be central to our mission. Our customers largely self-select re: their interest in supporting both that mission and the people who do that work in our space (AKA, our staff).
But it’s not 100%. Tourists also come in, and people visiting friends and family members who live in the neighborhood are brought in . . . So, on any given day, we can have very challenging conversations about the positions we’ve taken on various issues (which we’re quite public about) or the way we curate our stock.
But generally the people we see most are political progressives, people of color, queer folk, and/or Muslim folk.
What are you seeing?
Many of our customers are very worried that Trump will win, and that the Republicans will take back the House, making way for policies and actions that they/we consider repulsive. They/we also fear Trump’s anti-democratic tendencies.
What is at stake with this election?
So much! Democracy. Bodily autonomy. The right of people of all identities to be safe. The country that our children will inherit. The health of our beautiful, living planet.
How important is this election?
Critical.
In your opinion, what will decide the election results?
We’re not experts! But we especially hope Republicans will reject Trump’s bid for a second presidency. He doesn’t care about their party or their principles; he only cares about power. The Republican Party failed repeatedly in its role as gatekeeper, but individual Republican voters need to think for themselves.
There are also constituencies that we fear the Democratic party takes for granted. Democrats have done far too little to push for a ceasefire in Gaza, to improve the lives of brown and Black folks, transgender people, low-income communities, and women. Democrats must do better and really earn these folks’ votes!
Can you speculate, in your opinion - why are people voting the way they are voting?
I think Harris voters believe we’re LONG overdue for a woman president, and leaders at the top with varied identities and life experiences will represent us ALL better.
I picture Trump voters to be like characters in an Elizabeth Strout novel. (Wait—hear me out!) She’s so good at humanizing people who are struggling (in all ways); those who feel left out, marginalized, and humiliated by others who are more educated and urban. I think that feeling of humiliation and insignificance is so damaging, because it makes people reckless–like they have nothing to lose, that things can’t get any worse. And maybe they enjoy the idea of “sticking” it to those who have more. Shame on us that so many people in this country feel that way.
“We all have to do better at seeing one another as human beings.”
If you’re feeling tense today, may I suggest reading a book, perhaps one by Elizabeth Strout. For me, My Name is Lucy Barton, helped quiet my anxious mind, and settle my nerves. It was the balm I needed.
I now know why it took me so long to read this book. I was waiting for just the right time.
“This must be the way most of us maneuver through the world, half knowing, half not, visited by memories that can’t possibly be true. But when I see others walking with confidence down the sidewalk, as though they are free completely from terror, I realize I don’t know how others are. So much of life seems speculation.”
― Elizabeth Strout, My Name Is Lucy Barton
Thank you to Dale, Janet, and Lynn for being so generous and sharing your thoughts with us. Thank you for reading.