We’ve Lost More Than a Bookstore

Walking into Cody's on Telegraph was like being greeted by many familiar friends: After entering the double doors, tables of hand-picked books arranged face-up gazed back at the visitor with intriguing titles and curious covers. These display tables were inviting and warm-personally and meticulously crafted by the staff at Cody's with the specific tastes of their patrons in mind. And the result was a delightful collection of books that made the browser excited to read.

But now that Cody's is closing their flagship location, what is the alternative? Increasingly, the alternative is chain bookstores like Barnes & Noble, where walking in is like being mobbed by a hoard of relentless publicists: Do you really want to read a novel by Nicole Richie? Who cares! We'll make sure you buy it anyway with this large, imposing and in-your-face display! In fact, much of the shelf space at commercial bookstores is bought by publishers like ad space, not lovingly stocked by conscientious bookworms.

And that's really what Berkeley will lose when Cody's shuts down its Telegraph location on July 10: A community of passionate, knowledgeable booksellers, and a common meeting place for a diverse group of readers. More than anything else, independent booksellers offer a culture of literacy that large retailers haven't been able to duplicate.

Cody's was more than a bookstore-it was an institution. Cody's put Berkeley on the literary map, and it kept it there, too. In 1989, the store famously decided to continue selling Salmon Rushdie's "The Satanic Verses" even when the Ayatollah Khomeini, the leader of Iran, issued a fatwa calling on all Muslim's to execute any associated with the publication of the novel.

Cody's was also the bookstore where Berkeley heard scores of writers speak about their craft. On the second floor, more than a hundred framed black and white photos of literary giants yellow above shelves of more books-Amy Tan, Toni Morrison, Kurt Vonnegut, Alice Walker, Susan Sontag, Chuck Palahniuk, Jonathan Safran Foer, Bill Clinton, Neal Gaiman, Judith Butler, George Lakoff, T.C. Boyle, Neal Stephenson, Edward Abbey ... the list is overwhelming and never-ending. Each picture was taken at Cody's during an author appearance, a testament to the incredible feat Cody's accomplished of connecting these writers to their readers. They are a monument to the literary history Cody's has witnessed and the incredible history it has made.

But on July 10, those pictures will have to come down. Of course there's a great sense of outrage at such an egregious cultural loss. The Internet has been blamed- "You can't expect to buy books on Amazon.com one day and see a Nobel Laureate at your local bookstore the next day" has become a veritable adage for independent bookstore loyalists. The management has been blamed-what weren't they doing to let this happen? And the city has been blamed-homeless, derelicts and drunks aren't good for business and it's the city government's fault for not cleaning up. But pointing fingers is a hopeless exercise when so many point back at us. If Cody's has not been able to remain profitable, the blame is collective.

Owner Andy Ross wrote in his announcement of the closing that "Cody's is an idea, not a building. That idea will endure in our other stores on Fourth Street and in San Francisco." Hopeful words, but they fall flat. The fact of the matter is that history was made in Cody's Telegraph location, not on chi-chi 4th Street, and not in the last year that Cody's San Francisco location has been open. Cody's is a visible reminder and monument to the 60s counterculture spirit that makes us famous, and we love Cody's precisely because it is not a chain.

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