All the Gnus that Fits

The best part of taking a book on the road is learning the history of the bookstores that if you're lucky you get to visit. Last Friday Diane and I went to Auburn for a reading from Breathing Out the Ghost at a great used book shop called The Gnu's Room. It's located on Gay Street next to the Amsterdam Cafe. The event was part of the Sun Belt Reading Series, which is co-organized by one of our local fave poets, Emma Bolden, who also happens to be prolific as hell. The Gnu's Room was recently purchased by a group headed by a wonderful woman named Tina, who, in a quirk of circumstance, at one point years ago worked at River City. She, her partner Kelley, and three other investors took the store over this past fall and have done a great job building a new kids' reading room, a cultural studies section, and new furnishings. The more impersonal the big retailers become, the more intimate these mom 'n' pop bookstores feel. Folks like Tina do a great service not simply keeping books available; they also contribute to the community by offering a place to hang out and talk about the printed word. If you happen to be in Auburn, check it out: you can't lose at the Gnu's, I promise.