Alyssa Rosenberg eulogizes the bookstore:
Social media means we all spend a lot of time signaling potential compatibility through the lists of the things that we like or don’t like. And it’s probably a more efficient process of figuring out who we’l
l make a real initial connection with. But I kind of miss the days when we had less perfect information, and when it could feel really exciting to see someone buying or reading or browsing something you knew was just going to rock their world, and to risk a conversation with them on the basis of that. You can still do this on, say, public transit (though probably with a smaller chance of sketchiness if you’re a girl rather than a guy). But for me, bookstores will always be the places that introduced me to the idea that you can take a risk based on some slim public proof that you and another person share similar interior worlds.
Earlier discussion here, here and here.
The Dish 