Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
LIVE at Browsers' Bookstore with Abe Richmond and Pete Dryden
333 Plays5 days ago
This episode was recorded and captured LIVE on Independent Bookstore Day (April 26, 2025) from Browsers' Bookstore in Albany, Oregon.
Pete Dryden:
Photographer, cabinet maker, professional overthinker. Hiding out in Albany, Oregon—dodging small talk, chasing meaning in the grain and the frame. Restless mind, calloused hands, too many questions and never enough quiet.
Abe Richmond:
Owner of Browsers’ Bookstore. If spotted in the wild, he is reading totally tubular titles.
We talk about bookstores, Edward Abbey, Kathy Acker, Morrissey, Hunter S. Thompson and so much more.
Celebrate Independent Books & Bookstores!!!
Recommended
Transcript
Podcast Introduction
00:00:02
Speaker
You are listening to Something Rather Than Nothing. Creator and host, Ken Valente. Editor and producer, Peter Bauer. That's how good he does.
Live vs. Edited Podcast Formats
00:00:20
Speaker
I'm good. I throw all my stuff in. Apen, I have it. Apen, I have it recorded. Will it be edited? Well, it's going to be live.
00:00:31
Speaker
It's going to be, well, there'll be an Instagram version. We'll have an Instagram live version of the show and there'll be the edited. One will be 62 minutes. One will be 22 minutes.
00:00:44
Speaker
we found the highlights in here hey here's the lead ape is gonna talk give here's a spoiler ape's gonna talk about the infinite chest who <unk> Talk about a doorbuster.
00:01:07
Speaker
Here we go. Hey, no, we're we're ready to go. We're
Live Recording at Browser's Bookstores
00:01:12
Speaker
checking. out This is something rather than nothing podcast ah where we are recording live. If you're listening to this ah via Instagram, ah it is independent bookstore.com.
00:01:24
Speaker
Weekend? Day? Day. Day. The voice you'll hear in the background until I stop talking. Abe Richman, owner of Browser's Bookstores. But um we have Independent Bookstore Day.
00:01:37
Speaker
um This is an an independent podcast, which is...
Podcast's Global Ranking
00:01:42
Speaker
Actually, one of the biggest media outlets in Albany, Oregon. You know, I mean, it can be a it can be a sleepy town of 50,000, but episodes, 293, 294, 300,000 listens.
00:01:51
Speaker
Top five percent podcast in the world, Abe. I'm happy to be here, honestly. Yeah. Yeah. Top percent. three hundred thousand listens
Role of Independent Bookstores
00:02:00
Speaker
top five percent podcast in the world a
00:02:06
Speaker
um happy to be here honestly yeah yeah top five percent um Anyways, we're going to be talking about independent bookstores. I used to work in independent bookstores. That'll be part of the ah question and answer later on.
00:02:20
Speaker
um ah We have Jenny Peterson, who's ah in charge of recording for the Instagram Live. We have listeners from around the world, a ton of listeners in Australia, Canada. Hope you still listen, Canada.
00:02:36
Speaker
Hope you still listening. ah From this podcast from the United States of America. But ah we're going to be ah presenting something brand new on the show. um And this is developed from, ah with all due respect, the great ah record store, Amoeba Records in the City Angels, ah Los Angeles, who has a ah segment called T-Rex.
00:03:01
Speaker
ah What's in your bag? And it's a really fun thing. If you've ever seen it's on YouTube. but You have, ah you know, somebody, a musician you really love. And, you know, they go and shop in shopping and find these kind of obscure albums. And, you know, I talk to a lot of artists about like what's in their head, what's in their mind. And it's just a fascinating possibly dangerous thing to ask what's, what's in their bag. We're going to do what's in your book bag today, uh, here on something rather than nothing.
Vision for Browser's Bookstores
00:03:31
Speaker
And, uh, uh, but before we get into that special piece, uh, little bit about Abe, um, ah talking with Abe, owner, a book lover, thinker, a town counselor, maybe, too. A lot of people talk.
00:03:46
Speaker
Yeah, onpaid unpaid counselor. But um just ah bookstore and bookstore types and independent bookstores and just, like, how important they are ah right now. I wanted to ask, Gabe, like, lot of people stop in the store, but can you just tell us about, um you know, ah your your vision for the store, you you know what the bookstore is uh as you've done it and you know and into the future well i think uh our bookstore anyway needs to be the swiss army knife of bookstores a little bit of something for everybody um albany is a pretty small town is it a city 50 000 it's a city
00:04:32
Speaker
It's a sleepy city, and but it's pretty diverse as far as readership goes. And so we have to have, you know, the $1 Western pulp from 1962, personal favorite.
00:04:44
Speaker
And then we have to have, you know, the higher end collectible leather bound, gilted, fancy thing for, for you know, the collector. Because they're there's, you know, this the range of collectorship is very wide.
00:04:59
Speaker
And, you know, we're casting a wide net here. Yeah, I, um, I found actually in in prep and cause going to do the what's in your book bag. Abe's going to ask me, but like, it was so funny cause I was looking through it and I actually found a book. Like I was like, Holy wow. Wow. Um, it's, uh, it's, I'm not gonna, it's a lead in, but it's, was a first edition and I come here. What what was I here yesterday? Three times, four times, uh, live nearby, browsers bookstore, but, um,
00:05:26
Speaker
It's just really cool, I think, to find, you know, find books you're looking for. I keep a few books in my head that I hunt for over the years. Like maybe I could find it if I ordered it from browsers or someplace in Illinois. But sometimes I go on a hunt for it in in in the physical stores.
00:05:42
Speaker
um Indie bookstore. What's indie bookstore mean? Like, you know, it's indie bookstore day. We're doing a big celebration. You have a bunch of artists here building community.
Sourcing Books Locally
00:05:51
Speaker
But like why indie bookstore?
00:05:54
Speaker
Well, we don't have an HR department, which is my favorite. I work as a union rep. I'm not into HR departments. So that's fine. Go ahead. I'm sorry interrupt, Dave. oh is It's we're bootstrapping it. We're doing our own thing.
00:06:08
Speaker
You know, we, these books are sourced by us every day. um Whether we're offering, you know, store credit or cash to people that walk in the door or, you know, we get that random, that random house visit where, where the real goods are.
00:06:23
Speaker
um But it's, it's us. We're doing it. And, you know, it's, it's friends and
Supporting Albany's Art Community
00:06:27
Speaker
family. It's not corporations and big, you know, big business. Yeah, it's been a great ah one of the things that I've seen and Abe and I have talked about a lot is something to be really conspicuous about, um you know, with the type of customers that come in and both of us really sensitive to the art community in this area. And, you know, just celebrating the fact that like, I don't know, people have this like a little bit of an attitude ah like around Albany that they're not they don't have what they actually have.
00:06:54
Speaker
And I think if you look and you see the incredible ah artists um and you see the people come to the store in the in the community, And um you really realize that whether it's authors, um photographers, ah Pete Dryden, who've had on the show, um painters, ah people make crafts, people are kind of like dedicated to like a certain type of ethos ah pulling together. And um it's something to celebrate and can be be conspicuous about. So that's why I like that
'What's in Your Book Bag' Segment
00:07:25
Speaker
there's... um
00:07:26
Speaker
An independent ah bookstore day. I don't want to leave the what's in your book bag segment out too long because that's like the one I'm most interested in. So here we go, everybody. ah Abe Richmond, ah I'm going to ask you, what's in your book bag?
00:07:45
Speaker
Well, let's get it here. It's a heavy bag. Most importantly, though, I have this awesome UFO bookmark by What's Jamie's Instagram?
00:07:58
Speaker
Jamie Sugar Canucci. It's ah Pete Dryden, who's been on the podcast. um His lovely wife, and she made this UFO abducting... That's gorgeous. Something. And then on the backside, there is this awesome nebulous galaxy, um you know, screenshot. But that was tucked into...
00:08:18
Speaker
One of my favorite Infinite Jest copies because, well, aside from the book period, this one's inscribed by David. Okay, go.
Connection to 'Infinite Jest'
00:08:29
Speaker
From 1999. And when i you know, when this came into the store, you guys can look up the book. It's not that exciting. Nobody will read it, but you can pop your door open with it. But when I, i got so excited because the,
00:08:41
Speaker
The handwriting sloppy, like David Foster Wallace's was, and the year fits, and I got so excited. um is not David Foster Wallace's handwriting.
00:08:54
Speaker
It's not even close, um but it made me, you know, you know i had some some chest um palpitations when i when it came in. It is a second edition, which is cool.
00:09:05
Speaker
um But one of the telltale signs is William T. Volman's name on the back of the cover is spelled correctly. On the first edition, it was not.
00:09:18
Speaker
They only had one in instead of two. Oh, goodness. All this is the corrected second edition. Now you've downplayed the your connection to this book. like Just a tiny bit here.
00:09:29
Speaker
yeah I'm pretty sure that like large volumes of Ken Follett, no shade on Ken Follett, but like big, big, big, big volumes here. Um, it's not just a prop open a door. And I know a lot of people have talked about Infinite Jest.
00:09:45
Speaker
But um now I haven't read it. um But I did purchase it from Browser's bookstore last week. And I will read it. But um I have seen some interviews with David Foster Wallace. And I found those absolutely fascinating from ah kind of ah just the way. Yeah. He talked about art in ah creating and writing. But, all right, ah you know, nobody wants a nutshell ah like what you think of Infinite Jest, but it's an important book to you. Why is it an important book to you?
00:10:15
Speaker
i I think it's the... ah the monstrosity that it is. And it's a beautiful one, but they he ties together so many desperate things or disparate things that should not go together.
00:10:29
Speaker
For instance, an elite um children's tennis academy called Enfield Tennis Academy. um A halfway house in Boston and paraplegic Canadian terrorists.
00:10:42
Speaker
You round all that together and that's infinite jest along with a, you know, movie that may or may not kill you upon watching it. They made a movie of it? the The movies are, it's a, it's a film book.
00:10:54
Speaker
There's nothing but film references and what technology will do to us if we watch it. too much. um They did not make a film of it. They should. And Wes Anderson should direct it It'd be about 14 hours long.
00:11:09
Speaker
um But they in one of the main plot pieces is there's a movie in the in the book that may kill you while watching it. All right. Abe's ideas hereby trademarked.
00:11:21
Speaker
ah Abe. Let's not go on on infinitely here on infinite jest. Much to say ah book is important to you, a ah ah book to wrangle. and And those are familiar with it. yeah i There must have been two or three copies here at browsers. ah All right. All right. Here we go.
00:11:40
Speaker
Next book
Exploring 'The Monkey Wrench Gang'
00:11:41
Speaker
from Abe. ah What's ah book number two in your book bag? Book number two is The Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abbey. And this particular one was published by Dream Garden Press, which is out of Ken Sanders' rare book place in our bookstore in Utah, if I remember correctly.
00:12:02
Speaker
Of course. But I really like this one because R. Crumb did the illustrations. Wow. but we' gonna have to and Sorry yeah for folks just on audio. The Instagram folks are going to get the Monkey Wrench Gang cover by R. Crumb here.
00:12:16
Speaker
ah Tell us more about the Monkey Wrench Gang, if you want to, by taking a look at the cover I'm asking you Well, it's it's what would happen if, ah you know, if me and my friends got together and wanted to blow up Glen Canyon Dam, which I don't recommend.
00:12:32
Speaker
This is not life advice, but if you wanted to, this might be the manual. And what else is Edward Abbey famous for? Help me out. He's famous for Desert Solitaire, which is another very important book that everybody should read.
00:12:49
Speaker
um And, you know, as as us Earth lovers, art and Earth are not much different. And so I think everybody should read probably, you know, his collected works for sure. I remember that title and this is probably a segue for me, Desert Solitaire.
00:13:05
Speaker
Here's the independent bookstore ah segue, Abe, I was telling you about. I used to work for an independent bookstore in Bethesda, Maryland called Travel Books and Language Center, which doesn't and exist doesn't exist any longer. But um it had that book, Desert Solitaire, because what we would have is travel books and ah like guides for different type of, well, I would say economic classes.
00:13:29
Speaker
Sure. Right. So like if you want to travel this way or that way. So I was I was I was I was an important person when it came to travel and fights at a young age and with a lot of class resentment. So I'm not sure how that worked out ah overall. do Do you have another you have another book, Ape?
'Various Small Books' Introduction
00:13:47
Speaker
I've got another one, and this is Pete, who has been on the podcast and is in the room, um staring at me nervously about what I'm going to say. This is um called Various Small Books, and it's a book referencing books by Ed Ruscha.
00:14:05
Speaker
um not There's nothing I love more than books about books. It comes with the territory. But in the sixty s I believe it he made a book called 26 Gas Stations and took pictures of these various different gas stations. And then, you know, there's been spinoffs ever since.
00:14:24
Speaker
um Yep, 26 Gasoline Stations, excuse me. But then there were some spinoffs through the years, like 24 Former Filling Stations by Frank i And let's see another good one.
00:14:38
Speaker
Same. gas Gas. Wait a second here. There's multiple gas station photo projects here. but There's more than more than you know. 36 fire stations. um A lot of them are gas stations.
00:14:52
Speaker
But I have this grand notion um of doing 26 bookstores and we'll start Willamette Valley and then you know spread out. Because even though they wrote 26 gas stations, there's also...
00:15:06
Speaker
26 gas stations in the state over so we might you know expand that a little bit holy like i said you never know what you're gonna find when you ask the question uh normally the show asks why is there something rather than nothing we're looking into the contents of uh of shoppers backs do you did you have any more is this is this is this the crescendo is this it's a lovely book folks this is a peak peak book bagness um but i'm curious what you have a i have to i have i have to get out my uh book bag and uh um you know it's fun to talk about obsessions um
00:15:46
Speaker
Oh, i
Significance of First Editions
00:15:47
Speaker
want to start. it These are hot off the skillet books, I would say. um This is the one I found that I i just loved. ah This is a first edition of Kathy Acker in memoriam to identity. I've never seen a first edition of Kathy Acker's in memoriam to identity.
00:16:06
Speaker
But one of the greatest things ah for me about Kathy Acker is like, ah living in the Pacific Northwest and her outsized influence both on literature, um kind of intellectual figurehead of ah Riot Girls and ah the ah grunge that comes out of Seattle, punk writer, ah punk ah punk life. And um and What I found so great about about her was that there was a certain lawlessness in the writings.
00:16:38
Speaker
So to give you an example of some of the the wildness, um she also wrote um Great Expectations. And she also wrote Don Quixote in her own versions. And at some point she would lift entire text and plagiarize from other texts as a kind of, don't know, just a gesture or a punk act.
00:17:04
Speaker
So she writes that way. She died young. um And this for me, seeing a Kathy Acker in Memoriam to Identity. first edition in the store.
00:17:15
Speaker
um This is, this was in my bag. And so this is going to go back on the shelf. Anybody, Kathy Acker, if you get excited by that. So I'm handing it over for visuals to the instant folks.
00:17:35
Speaker
Jenny, my partner handed me this book, which this actually came from the house. Defensive Eating by Morrissey, with Morrissey, I actually should say it's not by Morrissey.
00:17:49
Speaker
I've read Morrissey's autobiography and as much as I am fascinated by Morrissey, that book.
00:17:58
Speaker
I would not suffer again. Sorry, Morrissey. ah Vegan recipes from the one you left behind. so a vegan ah the cookbook. I will say, though, though I've been a lifelong vegan, i haven't used this cookbook yet.
00:18:14
Speaker
um This is a ah curio we should have this as a curio. This is what I was talking about, casting a wide net. You got to have, you know, defensive eating with Morrissey because somebody will want it.
00:18:28
Speaker
Somebody will want it and live by it. um ah You have um Cookie Monster with Morrissey. And the visuals are available for Instagram folks. And a lot of pictures of Morrissey. Go figure. Go figure.
00:18:46
Speaker
Pictures of Morrissey.
00:18:51
Speaker
Abe and I have talked about this book multiple times. I'm super excited. ah and ah Folks who know me know I'm a Megan Lamb ah fan. Megan does Gotham Industrial Music.
00:19:03
Speaker
ah She's out in ah Chicago. This is a recent book with short stories called Mirror Translation. And um I just love this as a volume. I think sometimes um when you trip out on how a book is bound, how it's put together, the art, whether it's pulp or whether it has a flashy finish or a Penguin Classics or sometimes how the books and the words are presented. But this one has really incredible art by Shannon Hosinek.
00:19:36
Speaker
I hope I pronounced that right. H-O-Z-I-N-E-C. And... um It's a beautiful collection. And um this book ah has been ah has been is almost through its first print.
00:19:52
Speaker
ah So just so everybody knows, if you're local or otherwise, there is a copy of ah Mirror Translation by Megan Lamb. um Available here at browsers. You've taken a look at this, haven't you, Ape?
00:20:06
Speaker
I have, and I actually didn't want to take our only copy, so i ordered a couple more to fill the shelves and one for myself. All right. All right. Shout out. Shout out to Chicago.
00:20:17
Speaker
um i want to present to you something I talked to you before about, but in my opinion, I'll give i'll
Impact of 'Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail'
00:20:26
Speaker
give my opinion. I'll give the reasons why.
00:20:28
Speaker
ah This ah book, Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail 1972, is the best ah piece of political reportage in the, the, uh, from, uh, from the United States or maybe in the English language and a bold statement regarding Hunter S Thompson. But I want to tell you, like, um,
00:20:52
Speaker
When it comes to political analysis, I think a lot of people kind of really miss how sharp the instincts were um on analysis of like the American condition.
00:21:04
Speaker
And one of the pieces that I really connected to on this book was. ah Hunter was like ah with like groups that were canvassing in places like Wisconsin and the Democratic primaries. He was out there in New Hampshire. He was with like how these campaigns were run, both from like a PR standpoint and on the ground standpoint.
00:21:25
Speaker
And it's such an acute political analysis. I don't I think maybe folks might not assume it. ah To be there. I also like this, too. I was born in the year 1972. So over the years when it comes to like music or books or of ah of um influence or like even the candidacy of the first African-American woman, Shirley Chisholm.
00:21:49
Speaker
for president, 1972, just like these, um I'm drawn to like that time. um And also it just feels kind of cool um in a like ah to look back, at least for me, not having lived at the time, but to feel that something was captured and described and there were elements of proof in the journalism. so That's why I love I love this book and I always try to
00:22:21
Speaker
Praise it, so folks really try to try to I think it should be the first book or when the first books outside of Plato's Republic and some other classics, when you're looking at politics that everybody should study.
00:22:34
Speaker
You know, that got me thinking Infinite just came out the year I was born. I wonder if there's some synchronicity there that so I'm so drawn to
Books Published in Birth Years
00:22:43
Speaker
it. I think Breakfast of Champions was published the year I was born as well. as one of it was one it was it was one of my favorites. not that That's fascinating. year You were born Infinite Jest.
00:22:53
Speaker
and Did you discover that at a certain point? at a you know like You're like, holy cow. It's like the same year i was born. At some point, i' you know obviously I figured it out, but I've been and the book world for a while now so I don't remember when when I discovered that alright got um are we gotta move to the next segment here we have one more one more what's in your book bag and I'm gonna ask a friend of the show and ah it Abe did you want to hang here and you want to chat with Pete about ah the book bag no shaking his head no the host will hold the the stage we're asking Pete Dryden up to the stage thank you
00:23:45
Speaker
We got we got Pete here. ah Pete is an amazing, amazing artist, photographer. And I but forgot to write down the gosh darn episode number. But no, if you go to the website, Spotify and elsewhere, look for Pete Dryden. Something rather than nothing.
00:24:04
Speaker
And we had a great conversation a while back. But Pete, we're in the what's in your book bag ah section of the show. ah How are you going to start us off here? ah Book one, what's in your book bag?
00:24:22
Speaker
Well, Ken, thanks for having me on the show. I'm going to start with
00:24:31
Speaker
the bone clocks. which is by David Mitchell. This particular book is a signed copy, which is fun. um
00:24:43
Speaker
ah A friend of mine had once said that when you have signed copy of a book, it's cool to have not only for, um well, the main reason why it's cool is because the author also held this book.
00:25:02
Speaker
And it's as close as you're going to get to that author. More than likely.
00:25:11
Speaker
But Bone Clocks was brought to my attention by a friend.
00:25:17
Speaker
not um That I hadn't read anything by David Mitchell before. And it was a book that really really got me fascinated in the way that David Mitchell kind of plays with time and uses characters in and out of other stories where they're, they he's playing with multi-dimensional worlds.
00:25:53
Speaker
And that was a fun like um concept to me. And so after Bone Clocks, then I read Slade House.
00:26:04
Speaker
um Anyway, that would be the first book. um
00:26:12
Speaker
There's something about the the the signature a piece of it, too. I got a book. And how special it can be. I have a a friend of mine lived in Austin, Texas, and David Lynch was coming through on his book, Catching the Big Fish, which I talk a lot about on the show. um creativit Creativity and the basis of creativity is something.
00:26:35
Speaker
more inner solemnity in capturing the strange images so i have a signed copy of that and it just has that same feel particularly after david lynch's passing like that kind of temporality all right pete uh uh book number two hey what's in your what's what's in your book bag p tried book number two is edward abbey's hey duke lives which Again, the same guy that recommended Bone Clocks, he also recommended The Monkey Wrench Gang.
00:27:10
Speaker
And I loved The Monkey Wrench Gang. Like, it was such a fun read. it was so unique. It was fun. And all the characters are characters that it's like, I would hang out with those people.
00:27:25
Speaker
Like, they sound like they would be fun to go on a road trip or...
00:27:33
Speaker
explode a dam or just go camping. It's the second time it's come up. I know. um But I have not read Hey Duke Glyphs. So um I thought today would be a good day to pick that up and continue the world of Hey Duke.
00:27:51
Speaker
um'm um I'm excited just by looking at it and um like just seeing like I've seen the name again. I was asking. Abe about, about Abby. I gotta tell you, I gotta admit to folks ah who are listening that I was able to peek inside, ah the book bag and I saw Cormac McCarthy, my brain just like blitzed
Impact of 'No Country for Old Men'
00:28:11
Speaker
out. Cause, uh, I'm very excited to see. So pull out the next book, Cormac McCarthy. I saw the cover and lost my brain. The third would be no country for old men by Cormac McCarthy.
00:28:25
Speaker
Um,
00:28:30
Speaker
this is I haven't read all of McCarthy's, but this is, at this point, my favorite of his. um I think it's just a very...
00:28:42
Speaker
It's very fluid in how it's the story is unfolded, and everybody's likable. um It's... I'm trying to remember the ah bad guy's name.
00:28:56
Speaker
is so Chigurh. Chigurh. Chigurh is like such a great character. i Every time that he was involved in the story, the um he was just the most captivating to me.
00:29:14
Speaker
Yeah. And with in the movie, Javier Bardem plays him. And i can't think of another person that could have played it as well as he did.
00:29:25
Speaker
So when you read the book, it's hard not to automatically think like, yep, that that was that is Chigurh. Which every once in a while that happens. I think another good example is Jack Nicholson playing in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
00:29:44
Speaker
yeah It's hard to see anybody else playing that character but Jack Nicholson. It's like, nope, that was a perfect casting. Yeah, that over almost overwhelming of a performance.
00:29:55
Speaker
I'm a big McCarthy fan. Born in Rhode Island, by the way. How's that for a curiosity? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I grew up in grew up ah in and in Texas for the most part. Definitely, you know, the feel the field of Southwest and Texas. But I've read a lot of McCarthy and um ah absolutely one of my favorite authors. And um I could go on and on, but his last couple books he published, I think, within a month of each other.
00:30:21
Speaker
What fascinates me to no end is that the last book is kind of like this um private diary of um a woman, sister, the sister relationship's important within the books in Black River Falls, Wisconsin. And it was compared a lot of time, some articles to a kind of curious book called The Wisconsin Death Trip.
00:30:43
Speaker
And just this kind of like dark, ah dark history and just kind of strange that he ended up in a spot like that. But um I got to tell you, I had the strangest reaction No Country for Old Men when I first read it. um There was a there was a character. ah just in general a character death in there for me that was so disruptive in the narrative of how it flowed i was almost like offended like I was like I was drawn along I was so surprised about how was brought about how it was done that it put it i I respond to books not usually that that much and I actually set it aside for some bit and um my first read-through still didn't have
00:31:28
Speaker
Like with that reaction, I still don't have it kind of balanced in my head. But um I read it a couple more times since then, and plus the the book, and just recognized it just as ah as as a work of as a work of absolute genius.
00:31:40
Speaker
Cormac McCarthy, love it. Yeah, born in Rhode Island. Curious, curious little fact there. um yeah Did you have any more books? I have one all right i have I have nothing to really say other than i just came across it. It's called Humans, A Monstrous History.
00:31:58
Speaker
by Sharika Davies. Yeah. I found it in the social science ah area, I guess.
00:32:11
Speaker
I don't know anything much about it, but it just fascinated me because it looks like it is the author kind of historically brings up a lot of instances and um people that that our society would deem as monsters, but um it appears that she's she's shedding light on just what exactly that is that we all
00:32:48
Speaker
so quickly draw to as defining what a monster is. i I don't even, maybe I'm giving it a terrible review and that's not exactly
Monsters in Literature
00:32:58
Speaker
what it's about. I had a addd a friend, had a friend's studies literature, name's Devon. She did a lot of ah research, literature and thesis and such on the concept of monster. And was like really cool to think about it in that type of way, thinking about it kind of outside of just trying out what is monstrous as a reflection.
00:33:19
Speaker
Of the society at the time. ah Hey, um speaking out to you. Hey, Jenny, holding the camera out there for the Instagram folks is really great. Thank you for for your help. One thing I wanted to and then everybody in the audience or would be listening to this.
00:33:34
Speaker
um ah We're going to be doing more segments of what's in your book bag. with Something Rather Than Nothing podcast. And ah some of these titles right here are sitting in the store. So if you're nearby or want to check out Browser's Bookstore website and signing off for the time being, Something Rather Than Nothing on Independent Bookstore today.
Closing Remarks
00:34:00
Speaker
an Independent Bookstore Day 2025 from Browser's Bookstore.com.
00:34:07
Speaker
Albany, Oregon, aka A-Town. Thank you
00:34:24
Speaker
you.
00:34:29
Speaker
This is something rather than nothing.
00:34:39
Speaker
And listeners, to stay connected with us and our guests, visit somethingratherthannothing.com. Join our mailing list for exclusive updates and access to guest-created art.
00:34:50
Speaker
If you enjoyed this episode or any episode, please like, subscribe, and leave a review on your podcast platform. People really read that shit. Your support helps us reach more listeners and spread our community across the planet.
00:35:05
Speaker
This is a global show and we like to give a shout out to our many listeners across the world, including many listeners in Canada, Spain, Germany, UK, Argentina, Brazil, India, Thailand, and so many more places.
00:35:20
Speaker
Be sure to follow us on Instagram at something rather than nothing podcast for behind the scenes content. And the best way to help the show is to tell your friends about us.
00:35:32
Speaker
If you love it, they'll love it too. Tell your friends who love it. We love you. This is Something Rather Than Nothing podcast.