Against Amazon Virtual Book Launch Video

Last night we had a great time celebrating the launch of Jorge Carrión’s Against Amazon and Other Essays with some of our favourite booksellers from across Canada and the US. We were joined by Doug Minett from The Bookshelf in Guelph, ON, JoAnn McCaig from Shelf Life Books in Calgary, AB, Jason Purcell from Glass Bookshop in Edmonton, AB, Josh Cook from Porter Square Books in Cambridge, MA, and Cristina Rodriguez from Deep Vellum Books in Dallas, TX. The group discussed what they loved about Jorge Carrión’s new book, why people should stop shopping at Amazon, how their experiences as booksellers have changed during the pandemic, and which books they’re recommending this holiday season. We also heard from the author Jorge Carrión, as he submitted a pre-recorded video from his home in Spain.

In case you missed it, you can still watch the video now:

ABOUT AGAINST AMAZON:
A history of bookshops, an autobiography of a reader, a travelogue, a love letter—and, most urgently, a manifesto.

Picking up where the widely praised Bookshops: A Reader’s History left off, Against Amazon and Other Essays explores the increasing pressures of Amazon and other new technologies on bookshops and libraries. In essays on these vital social, cultural, and intellectual spaces, Jorge Carrión travels from London to Geneva, from Miami’s Little Havana to Argentina, from his own well-loved childhood library to the rosewood shelves of Jules Verne’s Nautilus and the innovative spaces that characterize South Korea’s bookshop renaissance. Including interviews with writers and librarians—including Alberto Manguel, Iain Sinclair, Luigi Amara, and Han Kang, among others—Against Amazon is equal parts a celebration of books and bookshops, an autobiography of a reader, a travelogue, a love letter—and, most urgently, a manifesto against the corrosive influence of late capitalism.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Jorge Carrión is a writer and literary critic. He studied at the University of Pompeu Fabra, where he now teaches literature and creative writing. His published works include essays, novellas, novels and travel writing, and his articles have appeared in National Geographic and Lonely Planet Magazine. Bookshops was a finalist in the Premio Anagrama de Ensayo, 2013.

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