10B - The Mi*an Daily - Thursday, 1=wary 17, 2005 0 0 0 0 The Michigan DO - lOB Th Mi~n Dily Thrsda, ~ary 7, 005 he irhion l*_ w .,.%, ivllvlllrull L.icaNN! MY - BEYOND BORDERS EXPLORING ALTERNATE BOOKSTORES IN A2 Random has unsexy porn name By C.C. Song For the Daily In a college town such as Ann Arbor, there are plenty of stores where students can purchase text- books, browse through a magazine or just sit quietly and read. However, in Ann Arbor, there are more than just the huge chains to attract cus- tomers, as smaller bookstores, with their unique collections, have done r just fine for themselves. David's Books Through its giant glass window, passersby can peer into a David's Books - a tiny bookstore stacked with books filling up shelves, pil- ing up on the floor and stacked to the ceiling. Although not as organized as any of the chain bookstores, David's Books has an air of nostalgia. The current owner, Ed Koster, has been running the store since the mid- 1980s and handled the customers at the cashier as he talked about the history of David's Books. Koster explained that the book- store was originally started by David Kozubei in the 1970s. Kozubei was a new-books dealer before he became a used-books dealer and decided to quit and handed the store to Koster because he liked writing more than running a store. Kozubei has done reviews and commentaries on other people's works, and he is currently working on an anthology of poetry, according to Koster. The bookstore was originally located on State Street, right above Potbelly Sandwich Works, before it relocated to its current location in 2003. Despite the new location, the store kept its wide variety of selec- tions. "Most books are used books, but occasionally some academic titles are picked up new," said Koster. Koster said there are fewer cus- tomers now. "People don't seem to like reading as much as they used to, and there's too much Internet shopping. People just sit at home and browse through the Internet," Koster said. As a book lover, Koster said he enjoys reading and running a book- store. Occasionally, he said he is entertained by eccentric customers who call in to ask about some weird titles. David's Books carries a wide selection of books, most of them in recent titles and science fiction. Most of the books are half of the new book's price. The store also offers a buy three. get one free deal. Dawn Treader A father rushed into Dawn Tread- er bookstore to find his son with a handful of books, and they both went straight to the cashier. The son passed the father the books, one by one, and the father did not hesitate to pay for any of them. The books at Dawn Treader, like other used bookstores, combine low costs with a diverse selection. Although Borders is right nearby, Dawn Treader does not seem intimi- By Doug Wernert Daily Weekend Editor The Michigan Daily: Hi, is Sarah there? Random: Yeah! Who is this? TMD: Hi, I'm calling from The Michi- gan Daily and you've been selected to do this week's Random Student Interview. R: Oh, OK. TMD: Do you got a few minutes? R: Yeah. TMD: And you want to do it? R: Sure. TMD: This is good. All right, first off: How's it going and how was your week- end? R: It was good. TMD: What did you do? R: I went to my friend's house. TMD: And what did you do there? R: We hung around. We listened to music and danced. TMD: Oh, you danced? To what kind of songs? R: Well it was a Puerto Rican party so it was all Spanish music. TMD: Oh, that's pretty cool. Was there any Ricky Martin? R: No, there wasn't. TMD: OK. Well, whatever. It's good that you danced. Let's get on to the real interview. First question: what is your favorite kind of Dum-Dum sucker? R: Grape. TMD: You don't like any of the fan- cier ones like root beer or butterscotch or anything? R: No, not really. TMD: How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie roll center of a Tootsie pop? R: Not sure. TMD: Haven't you ever seen the com- mercial? R: I have. TMD: Well, they tell you in the com- mercial. R: Oh, three. TMD: Do you think there's any sexual connotation to it? R: I don't think so. I never thought of that, butI was a little kid when I saw the commercial. TMD: Well, so was I, but now being older, I think about that more. Like the sexual part and stuff. R: No, not me. I never really thought about it. TMD: If you were in porn, what would your porn name be? You can take your porn name by taking your middle name and the street you live on. R: Haha, it would be Stapercenti Griggs. TMD: What? R: Stapercenti Griggs. My mom's maiden name is my middle name. TMD: Oh really? I don't even know how to spell that. R: You can do Stape Griggs, I guess. TMD: Stape Griggs? R: Yeah. TMD: Do you think that porn actress could geta lot of men excited? R: Not really. TMD: Not with a name like that. What if her name was something like Chande- lier McPherson? Would that be better? R: A little better, yeah. TMD: Who was your favorite Batman villain? R: The Joker. TMD: Did you find it weird that there was both a Joker and a Riddler? Did you really think there was a need for two? R: They were different. TMD: Yeah, but they pretty much did the same thing. R: Yeah, but the Riddler was funny and the Joker was creepy so it's all good. TMD: Yeah, that's true. Why do you think Batman needed Robin? R: All superheroes need a little side- kick guy. TMD: Yeah, but Superman didn't have a sidekick. R: But Superman controlled the world. I don't know. TMD: But Batman controlled Gotham. R: Which was a freakishly scary town. TMD: Yeah, it was. And for some reason it looked a lot like New York City, didn't it? R: Yeah, it did a little bit. Mmm hmmm. TMD: Do you think "My Happy End- ing" by Avril Lavigne is the ultimate breakup song? R: I don't know that one off the top of my head. TMD: You've never heard that song? R: I think I have. I don't remember how it goes. TMD: It's very bitter. R: Do you want to sing it to me? TMD: Sure, it's like (singing) You were everything, everything ... R: Oh! TMD: So you've heard it? Do you think that's a good angry song? R: Not really. TMD: Why did you cut me off after only singing about a line? R: Haha, because I remembered it. Would you like to sing the rest of it? TMD: Not really. Are you insulting my singing ability? R: No, I just caught on to it. TMD: I'm known as the white man's Luther Vandross. R: That's awesome. TMD: It is awesome. Do you ever watch "Winnie the Pooh?" R: Iused to. TMD: Why didn't Winnie the Pooh ever wear pants? R: The same reason Donald Duck didn't wear pants. TMD: That is the perfect follow-up answer, because they wore shirts, did they not? But you don't see them wearing pants. Don't you think that was kind of weird? R: Yeah, it was a little creepy. TMD: And why did Winnie the Pooh have that dumb name? R: Wasn't it the guy who wrote "Win- nie the Pooh" ... his son's pet's name or something? There's some history behind it. TMD: Oh, I didn't know that. Remem- ber Christopher Robin? R: Yeah. TMD: Why did he have such short shorts? R: I don't know. I never realized that. He hung out with a bunch of animals. He didn't have any friends. TMD: You notice he's wearing short shorts and he's hanging around a bear who doesn't wear pants ... R: Haha, yeah. It's a crazy show. TMD: This is like a bad Discovery Channel special waiting to happen. Did you have art class in grade school? R: Yes. TMD: Were your projects ever good enough to go on the wall? R: Yeah, I think everyone's did. TMD: See, at my school they were very selective and my projects were rarely good enough to go on the wall. R: Well, that's sad. TMD: It is sad, and I attribute that to the fact that all the art projects either involved folding something or using cot- ton. Why did all art projects have those two qualifications? R: Because they were cheap. You can make anything with cotton and folding stuff. TMD: Don't you think we should thank Eli Whitney for inventing the cot- ton gin? R: We probably should. TMD: Is he your favorite inventor? R: At this moment, he is. TMD: Well, what if it wasn't this moment? Who would be your favorite inventor? What about like ... Alexander Graham Bell. R: Wasn't it Carver who invented pea- nut butter? TMD: Yeah, I think so. R: I'm a fan of him. TMD: Yeah, me too. What do you think the better skill is: breakdancing or knife-throwing? R: Breakdancing. TMD: But what if you were being attacked? Do you think you could ward them off with breakdancing? R: Yeah, did you ever see "Napoleon Dynamite?" You just sidekick him. TMD: What's so good about that movie? R: There's no point to it. It's just stupid humor. TMD: It's kind of like this interview then, isn't it? R: Yep. The Dawn Treader Bookstore on East Liberty Street sells first editions of many classic books. dated by the chain store. The store remains quite busy, full of a wide range of customers. Corby Gillmore, the current man- ager of the store, has been managing Dawn Treader for five years. His father, Bill Gillmore, opened the store about 30 years ago. Bill began working in a bindery - a store where books are bound - and even- tually accumulated enough books to open a bookstore. Dawn Treader carries many used, rare and out-of-print books. It also has the first edition of many books, including "On the Road," "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas." Most of their customers are students and collectors. Corby said he enjoys running the business. When asked about the things that he liked the most about running a bookstore, he replied, "the selection of books I have to myself." Afterwords Afterwords, unlike other privately owned bookstores, does not carry used books. However, like the other stores, it has many out-of-print, rare and children's books. "It's a defensive way to sell a liv- ing. I couldn't sell anything other than books," said Steve Kelly, the owner of Afterwords. He has been selling books since the 1960s but did not open Afterwords until 1979. Afterwords offers a wide selection of children's' books - the predomi- nant type of book in the store. "We try to react to kids instead of commercial," Kelly said. Many of the store's customers are families. However, while most book shoppers are usually females, After- words is the exception to the rule. Other than children's books, they carry many of history and non-fic- tion books, including gardening and anatomy. Kelly gets books from sales rep- resentatives and newspaper review- ers. He also travels once every four to five weeks to buy books at cheap prices. "I'm offering people fantasies, escape, and entertainment. I try to be part of the overall entertain- ment," he said. West Side Book Shop West Side Book Shop and Joe Platt, its owner and a Michigan alumni, have been around Ann Arbor for almost 30 years. The store is reminiscent of the small shops in Europe, filled with Jazz music, dimmed yellow lights and out-of- print, old books. "I've always been interested in books and got into book collecting. I went to this bookstore on Fourth Avenue in New York and decided to open a bookstore (in Ann Arbor)," Platt said. . Most of the books are largely about literature and the history of Michigan. Platt also buys collec- tions of different subjects and the first edition of many books, includ- ing "The Wapshot Chronicle" and "Dealing or the Berkeley-to-Boston Forty-Block Lost-Bag Blues." As he enjoys his time as a book seller, Platt plans the 30-year anni- versary for the store in September. He also shared the things he liked about opening a bookstore. "I'm my own boss, and I have my own library. I enjoy being around books. People ask me what it takes to open a book- store. You have to enjoy handling books." \ k Windows Users BEWARE: Bookstores and Hours David's Books: 516 E. Williams St., (734) 665-8017. Mon.- Sat. 1D am. to 9 p.m., Sun. noon to 9 p.m. T Dawn Treader: 514 E. Liberty St., (734) 995-1008. Mon.- Thurs. 11 am. to B p.m., Fri.-Sat. 11 am. to 9 p.m., Sun. noon to 6 p.m. Afterwords: 219 S. Main St., (734) 996-2808. Mon.-Wed. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Thurs.-Sat. 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., Sun. noon to 8 p.m. West Side Book Shop: 113 W. Liberty (734) 995-1891. Mon. 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Thurs-Sat. 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Sun. noon to 5 p.m. Chinese Cu i'ai garden (313) 995-1786 116 S.Main SI. (Between w. Horon and Washtenaw) carryout and reservations accepted. Ooen 7 Daevs Protect Yourself From DANGEROUS Marketscore Spyware safecomputing.umich.edu Mon-Thur 11.10 Fi&Sat 11-11!