Photo: Martin DeutschCross-posted from Cool Green Science.
Driving with my kids the other day, I saw a sign announcing: “Borders Books Going Out of Business: 90% Off!” We headed in with great enthusiasm, thoughts of nearly free books dancing in our heads.
The place was swarming with bargain hunters. The remaining inventory had been moved to the front; the rest of the cavernous box store was gloomily empty behind movable partitions.
Though there were still thousands of books, I quickly realized the store had been picked clean, like a carcass where all the soft parts were long gone and just the hide, hoofs, horns, and bones remained. Like those ungulate parts, the titles left behind were mostly undigestible.
Jackal-like, I joined the others sniffing among the store’s skeletal shelves for some overlooked palatable morsel. There were literally no books for kids — those sections simply didn’t exist anymore.
“Sorry, guys, I guess there’s nothing left,” I said to the dejected pair shuffling along behind me.
But just then I turned a corner and stumbled upon the “Nature/Environment&#... Read more
