my Thinking spot: book burning, act II

31 August 2007

book burning, act II

you heard it here first - from the mouth of my hunny bunny:

Hello book lovers, Prospero's is preparing to get at it again.

What: Book Burning Act II
When: Sunday, Sept. 2nd @ 4pm
Where: Prospero's Books
1800 W. 39th Street
Note: Come dressed as your favorite character from "Fahrenheit 451"
Note #2: Forrest Whitlow will provide some great music

HISTORY:
On May 27th Prospero's unleashed a bit of performance art that drew
national attention: We set flame to a couple dozen books in protest of
drastically declining reading trends in America (a trend that's seen
nearly a dozen independent bookstores close in Midtown KC over the last
decade).

Our protest drew international attention: the NY Times flew in 2
reporters to spend a day with us. There were over 600 US Newspaper stories
(including the US Poet Laureate in the Washington Post) and world-wide
coverage in places like Russia, India, China, Canada, Venezuela...

Prospero's call for more reading made CNN Headline News & the Colbert
report (my personal fave). There were dozens of radio interviews , the BBC
(600 US Newspaper stories, 40,000+ blogs, dozens of radio interviews, a
new entry in Wikipedia.com, and thousands of emails and phone calls).

Following the burning, we made our collection of 20,000+ unwanted books
available, and they have sat in a portable storage container on our curb
for the last 3 months.

The odd thing is - even as the public outcry was LOUD, very few people
have acted to give these books a home (reminds me of how voter turnout
dropped in the US following the patriotic uproar following 911).

So, here we are: I guess we are going to have to burn some more...

Please feel free to drop by and join us - come dressed as your favorite
character from "Fahrenheit 451".

NOTE: Over the years, Prospero's has donated 1,000s of books to teachers,
charities, jails and those who can't afford a book.

Peace,
the Right Duke

Labels: book burning act II, prospero's books

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my Thinking spot

31 August 2007

book burning, act II

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