Welcome to the 100th episode of #Brattlecast! We’re celebrating by talking about the Brattle’s appraisal of a document so culturally, historically, and monetarily valuable that it featured prominently in a recent Hollywood action movie, opposite co-star Nicholas Cage. But of course the real national treasure is all the fun we’ve had on the podcast, sharing these stories and connecting with our listeners. Thanks for coming on this journey with us—we’re already looking forward to the next 100 episodes!
Brattlecast #99 - Strand by Me
Today we’re discussing recent news about Covid-19’s impact on the Strand bookstore. The New York City institution received an outpouring of support after its owner, Nancy Bass Wyden, took to social media, detailing the 93-year-old store’s dire financial situation and asking the public for help. The Strand’s story has a happy ending, but many others have not been so lucky: according to the American Booksellers Association, more than one independent bookshop has closed for good each week since the start of the pandemic in March. We’ll talk about why this crisis is especially hard on smaller book stores, many of which rely on city foot traffic and in-store events, and have already been weakened by years of competition with online giants like Amazon. While the Brattle isn’t going anywhere, it functions best as part of a thriving community of fellow booksellers, the diminishment of which is a real loss to literary culture and to the fabrics of our cities and towns.
Brattlecast #98 - Buy the Book
It’s something that many of us have a bit more time for these days: buying books online (and, ideally, reading them). In this episode we’ll look into some of the quirks and peculiarities that shoppers might encounter on the internet, like books that are priced way too high, or the same book being sold in a really wild range of prices (do I want the $6 copy, or the $2000 copy?). It turns out that usually the culprit behind these discrepancies is a confused computer algorithm, rather than an ambitious human bookseller. We’ll also reveal some book buying tips and tricks, plus the Brattle’s famous haggling secret (“ask nicely”).
Brattlecast #97 - How to Look at Books
What do you look for when you’re looking at books? In response to this question from an antiques dealer who finds books to be something of a pain in the… past, Ken details the Brattle’s time-tested methods for determining, over the phone, which libraries might be of special interest to collectors. Of course no books are really a pain in the buns: some may be rare and valuable but the rest are still great reading material that’s heavy to move, frequently dusty, and emotionally difficult for people to part with. Learn what to look for on this very specific #brattlecast.
Brattlecast #96 - The Grisham Conspiracy
Today we’re talking about Ken’s surprising appearance as a villain in John Grisham’s rare books heist thriller, Camino Island. Well, not Ken exactly, but someone very much like him. Oscar Stein is the fictional proprietor of the three story Old Boston Bookshop on West Street in downtown Boston, a shop that was founded by his father, Loyd Stein. Sound familiar? The only problem is that Oscar Stein is also a thief, his bookshop is failing, he’s weary of the book trade, and would rather pop pills in his cluttered office than run the shop. After reading Camino Island, Ken, baffled and understandably concerned about the possible damage it could cause to his reputation, does some investigating of his own, ultimately leading to a phone call from Grisham himself.