Thursday, June 07, 2007

Interview-hunter Oprah Hits McCarthy with Tranquilizer Dart, more WCF News

I'd read the Tribune's discussion of the McCarthy interview before actually seeing it (their discussion was longer than the interview) so when I saw the interview, I found they'd greatly exaggerated. They made it sound like she had to tug every word out of him. Still, not too exciting an interview. Quite humble. McCarthy was slumped in his chair like he'd lost the power to flee. And Oprah certainly did focus too much on his onetime poverty. You mean money isn't priority number one, Cormac, you freak?! But she did make a good point about how the novel is, in many way, a post-9/11 experience. Snarky response in Slate.

More on bookstore Women and Children First's recent brush with financial disaster (and subsequent recovery--mentioned earlier). One of my many daydreams about alternate careers with dismal financial prospects is to run a bookstore, which is one reason I've been following the story so closely. At any rate, I found this of interest (from Shelf Awareness):
Just back from a trip abroad, Ann Christophersen didn't come to New York, but the co-owner of Women & Children First, Chicago, and former president of the ABA made a splash in the Big Apple anyway: Booklog said that she has joined the computer inventory control system company as coordinator of customer services and in-house bookseller advisor for new program features and enhancements. Booklog said that Christophersen's "wealth of experience and expertise has proven invaluable to the organization thus far and Booklog welcomes her services."

Christophersen remains co-owner of Women & Children First, but will work there only part-time. She will be at Booklog four days a week; its headquarters are only a block and a half from the bookstore, so in geographical terms at least, the move is not far.

The store recently overcame severe financial problems with the help of customers and MyPage (Shelf Awareness, May 23, 2007). Christophersen's new job also helps. As she put it in Booklog's newsletter, booklog news, "After much thought, my business partner, Linda [Bubon], and I decided that our 27-year-old store could manage just fine without the daily presence of both full-time owners. The savings could help return the store to more solid economic footing. . . . It would provide me the freedom to focus on big-picture and longer-range issues while Linda oversees the daily operations. Although I really miss being in the store as much as I used to be, I'm enjoying my new combination work life."

Christophersen has already been teaching online training classes and written a supplement to the user's manual.

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