I am writing to express some frustration and disappointment with your store. For many years now, I have enjoyed browsing through, hanging out in and spending money in the Holland Barnes and Noble. But over the last year or so, there have been a number of things that have made me less than enthusiastic about continuing to do so.
Most of these instances have consisted of the sexually suggestive covers various prominently displayed books, including the Vargas pinups, Good Girl’s Guide to Bad girl Sex, and most egregious, What Happens in Vegas. The latter featured a cover with two people engaged in sex, displayed cover out right next to the children’s section. I think most people would agree that whatever the book’s merits as literature may be, this is not necessarily an example of intelligent product placement. Another example featured nothing more than bust of a woman wearing something with a zipper being unzipped, displayed on a cart just as one walks in. I’m sure you can imagine the discomfort of many parents walking around the store with small children.
As much as these things bother me, they are not the primary reason for writing today. The main reason is that I recently was in the store looking to spend a gift card and decided to swing by the philosophy section. I have generally found this portion of your store to be fairly well stocked considering its size. Imagine my surprise when I found that not only was it reduced in size by at least half but the content and taken a turn for worse. It almost exclusively featured works of pop-culture (30 Rock and Philosophy, Zombies and Philosophy, etc) and militantly atheistic works such as Bertrand Russell’s Why I Am Not a Christian, The Christian Delusion and other such things prominently displayed. A closer look did reveal some works by Immanuel Kant and others which while I have my problems with them, at least have the merit of being important to the history of philosophy (to be fair, so does Russell’s work). My point is not that you shouldn’t have these sorts of things in your philosophy section but rather that it seems to almost entirely consist of these sorts of books. I’m sure had I the patience I would have found Plato’s Republic and Aristotle’s Politics in there but these clearly are not the works you are most interested in promoting. Rather, you seem focused on promoting pop-culture fads that no one will remember in ten years and works that openly attack traditional and orthodox faith and philosophy. Not only does this reflect an unfortunate attitude towards the very foundations of our civilization, it is also poor business sense given that the Holland area is well known for being a strongly traditional Protestant community. I grant that this has shifted in recent years but it still represents the largest portion of your potential patrons.
Now, I can imagine that you are simply carrying what you believe will sell, and perhaps some other things such as the classics already mentioned and other authors I’ve seen in your store such as Alistair MacIntyre, Roger Scruton, and E.F. Schumacher may not sell as well (incidentally, I’ve bought one each by MacIntyre and Schumacher from the Holland store). Perhaps you could place those books cover out? Or to appeal to the Christian community, move some of the works of Thomas More, Thomas Aquinas, and Augustine (all Catholic saints) from the Christianity section to the philosophy section? They are all prominent in that field as well as others. Or why not the Protestant philosophy Dietrich von Bonhoeffer?
I have always enjoyed Barnes and Noble and respected not only the presentation of the stores, but also the variety and general tastefulness of the titles carried. I hope that the trends away from this standard are corrected such I will not have find ways to avoid your store rather than finding ways to get there.
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