DeStewart

For Sale: 2012 Bookstore of the Year

Literature

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A month after being named Bookstore of the Year by Publishers Weekly, The Book Stall at Chestnut Court announced that it’s up for sale. The news is a blow to Chicago’s literary community, as the indie bookseller sponsors more than 400 in-store and offsite events each year.

Yesterday I showed some support for the The Book Stall by stopping by to purchase Nell Freudenberger’s latest effort. I rarely buy books at brick-and-mortar stores these days, and when I do — paying full price plus sales tax — it feels, I’m embarrassed to admit, like an act of altruism. Of course, in 2012 the truly altruistic act is not buying a book, it’s buying a bookstore.