The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
the b-side
Thursday, November 17, 2016 — 3B
FILE PHOTO/Daily
Motte & Bailey Bookshop has been a Kerrytown staple since 2000.
“Brothels and pharmacies
make more money, that’s for
sure,”
said
Gene
Alloway,
owner
of
Motte
&
Bailey
Booksellers, a rare and used
bookstore on North Fourth
Avenue. “There’s a saying that
if you want to make a million
dollars in books, start with two
million.”
The brothels and pharmacies
of
questionable
practices
Alloway
referred
to
are
more
than
just
lucrative
businesses:
they
apparently
once operated (although not,
rather unfortunately, at the
same time) within the same
walls as Alloway’s bookstore.
But if a bookstore seems like
a mundane follow-up to those
more salacious ventures, a
step inside Motte & Bailey
bookstore puts those concerns
to rest.
Among
old
New
Yorker
magazine
covers,
children’s
books and coffee-table-ready
novels on Rembrandt, Motte
& Bailey bookstore carries a
comfortable quaintness that
feels particularly Ann Arbor
in nature. The store name is
playfully
displayed
on
the
window with words that curl
back and forth, recalling a
storefront in a Harry Potter
film. The actual history of the
books inside, though, can be a
bit more vicious than a nose-
less Ralph Fiennes.
According to Alloway, one
such piece of history that
passed
through
the
walls
stands out in particular — an
original declaration written by
the University of Michigan’s
president in the late 19th
century. In it, the president
bans University students from
visiting the local Ann Arbor
bars because, he says, students
would tend to have too much
to drink and find themselves,
perhaps, too belligerent for the
collective good. As Alloway
puts it, “There’d be huge brawls
right in the middle of the
street, weekend after weekend,
between
the
University
students
and
the
German
workers.”
Alloway’s
reverence
for
history is important in holding
the store to its niche. For
a college town filled with
eclectic bookstores, there’s still
a carefully curated atmosphere
to the store, and it’s that
individualism, Alloway says,
that makes room for what he
estimates to be more than 20
different booksellers in the
area.
“We all have our slightly
different focus,” he said. At the
bottom level, yes, all of us want
that nice copy of ‘Catcher in the
Rye’ — all of us would buy the
first edition and sell it for lots
of money. But on the day-to-day
level, we all have our different
foci.”
This keeps the high supply of
local bookstores from devolving
into the kind of intra-trade
warring that, say, the New York
Ice Cream Truck Mafia found
itself in. The local booksellers
are not, Alloway says, walking
up to each other’s collections
with bats or a Zippo lighter.
Rather, Alloway will happily
direct customers to the local
bookstore that most fits their
particular needs. (While I sat
there, he recommended that
a young woman searching for
Jane Austen peruse the West
Side Book Shop.)
So while Motte & Bailey does
have an array of material, its
strength, Alloway says, is still
based in what he first took to
the web back in 1996 when he
opened a website as a book
seller, focusing mainly on rare
books in the subjects of classical
history and the military.
What started solely as an
online
enterprise,
however,
eventually became a physical
store in 2000, as Alloway
and
two
friends
—
John
Murphy II and Paul Hare
—
found
themselves
both
with an increased interest in
bookselling and in the midst of
a philosophical disagreement
with the University of Michigan
library,
where
Alloway
worked for a number of years
as a librarian after receiving
degrees in classical history and
librarianship. Alloway uses the
transition of mediums through
music as an analogy:
“Whenever there’s a change
in technology, things get lost,”
he said. When you went from
Edison recordings to the first
vinyl, there were things that
didn’t come over. And when
you went from those early 78s,
the 33s, and 45 RPM vinyls,
again, not everything came
over. And then the same way
cassettes and 8-track tapes and
CDs and now digital. At every
step, there are things that are
unique to whatever mediums
are available. The University,
to me, was ignoring that.”
John Murphy eventually left
the store for law school while
Paul moved to Kansas, leaving
Alloway as the sole consistent
appraiser. But Alloway still
makes sure to keep the values
the store was founded on fresh.
He only scans original copies
when uploading books online,
places his focus on the most
relevant content in a genre
regardless of publishing date
or what’s popular at the given
moment and above all, he tries
to make bookselling a more
personal venture, rather than a
faceless transaction.
That love for the books
themselves, the leather and not
just the ink, finds itself in the
store’s unofficial motto: “Each
book has its own destiny,” a
quote that hangs in the back
of the store. For Alloway, it
represents the idea that he, as
a seller, is just a stop on a long
journey these books will make.
And those journeys, too, tell
their own stories.
One recent one in particular
stands out to Alloway, he says.
He recently acquired a large
19th-century volume of the
female aristocracy in the early
reign of Victoria, beautifully
bound and containing steel
engravings of each woman.
But two listed in the table of
contents are absent. Thinking
the
error
might
just
be
individual, he reached out to
the libraries where the rest of
the approximately 12 copies
are held. Of the seven who
responded, all said the same
two
women
were
missing.
It’s those kinds of “So what
happened?”
questions
that
are so enticing about original
bookselling
and
collecting,
Alloway said: “The things that
you could never find out unless
you literally look through it
page by page.”
It seems Alloway is not the
only one who finds in-person
browsing
and
hands-on
bookkeeping exciting. While
the
store
started
online,
in-store sales now far surpass
online sales. Alloway cites
the enormous imbalance of
supply
over
demand
with
online
competition
as
one
factor. Another more powerful
element at play, though, is that
book buying and browsing is
an experience, and an often-
personal one that people like
to have a guide for. Most of us
can’t traverse an entire map on
our own.
“It’s about leading people
into directions,” Alloway says.
“Someone reads a general book
on World War II, and then
they want to read a book on
a particular battle, and then
they want to read a book on a
particular unit and then they
want to read a biography of
a general of that unit. That’s
what’s really nice.”
To
help
sort
through
the broadness of any given
category, Alloway says, it’s
important for the bookseller
to be able to tell readers,
“Read this, not that.” As he so
accurately lays bare, nobody
has all the time, money or space
to collect and read every book
they might want.
If the business of bookselling
and collecting seems serious,
it’s because it is. Alloway
relayed a story to me of a
German
family
he
worked
closely with to return a stolen
manuscript.
In
turn,
they
told him of their relative, a
librarian, who hung himself
because their family estate
was looted so heavily by the
Russians during World War II.
“He just couldn’t protect all
of the books.”
The Motte & Bailey Bookshop
may not yet be that zealous, but
it’s an important staple in the
ever-growing field. As Alloway
puts it, “There are always small
gaps that can be filled with
books.”
A reverence for history at
Motte & Bailey Bookshop
MATT GALLATIN
Daily Arts Writer
Kerrytown’s used book shop is a fixture for bibliophiles
“Brothels and
pharmacies make
more money, for
sure.”
Nobody has the
time, money and
space to read
everything.
INA GARTEN
Check out this store-bought heteronormativity.
‘Cooking for Jeffrey:’ An iconic love
story between the Gartens and food
From Dartmouth to the Hamptons, romance knows no bounds
Ina Garten is a powerhouse.
When the Food Network train
hit new heights of popularity
in
the
mid-aughts,
Garten
reached a new level of celebrity
status attained by only a few
other chefs on the network.
Her long-running
series,
“Barefoot
Contessa,”
has
been on air since
2002, making it
one of the longest
running series on
the network.
In
each
episode,
Garten
is
effortlessly
charming as she
cooks a meal for
a special guest —
be it friends, a celebrity or her
longtime husband, Jeffrey. Ina
and Jeffrey’s relationship has
reached an almost cult status,
as the pair (who have been
married since 1968) have a
chemistry that would make any
cynic a believer in true love.
When so many marriages end in
divorce these days, how can we
not rally around a couple who
has made it work for almost 50
years?
It was no surprise, then,
that Garten’s 10th cookbook,
released last month, is titled
“Cooking
for
Jeffrey.”
The
glossy
hardcover
is
two
parts
cookbook,
one
part
love story. The introduction
traces the history of Garten’s
relationship with cooking and
her relationship with Jeffrey.
The two things are inextricably
interconnected, Garten says.
According to her, Jeffrey was
the one who encouraged her to
work in the food industry and
pursue her dreams in the public
sphere.
Jeffrey is no stranger to
attaining lofty goals himself;
he’s Dean Emeritus at the Yale
School of Management, and has
worked in several presidential
administrations.
Not
to
be
outdone
by
her
husband,
Garten
has
an
extremely
impressive resume from before
her venture into the food world.
She worked in the White House
during the Ford and Carter
administrations writing policy
papers on nuclear energy. In
the words of Garten herself,
“how great is that?”
On first glance, I joked to
my friends that the title of
the cookbook seemed bad for
feminism. I never thought badly
about Ina for it — Garten is old
enough to be my grandmother,
and I am well aware of how
gender roles have shifted since
she was in college. However, I
was surprised to
see her actually
tackle the topic
of feminism in
her introduction:
“I
often
say
[Jeffrey] was the
first
feminist
I
ever
knew;
he
believed
that
I
could
do
anything
I
wanted to do.”
The
couple’s
mutually beneficial relationship
is highlighted several times in
“Cooking for Jeffrey.” It’s one
thing to see their relationship
on television, where Ina is
queen
of
the
kitchen
and
Jeffrey seems happy just to
be on the receiving end of her
production. It’s a completely
different thing to read Garten’s
heartfelt gratitude for finding
a relationship that allows both
people to follow their goals
while loving each other deeply.
While
flipping
through
“Cooking with Jeffrey,” I was
fascinated that not only did
every recipe sound delicious,
but
they
all
looked
like
something I, an amateur home
cook, could whip up without
too much trouble. One of the
reasons Ina Garten has become
a Food Network icon is her
penchant
for
simple
meals
that require ingredients you
probably have in your fridge.
While there are recipes that
require a thoughtfully planned
grocery run (“Fried Oysters
with Lemon Saffron Aioli,” for
instance), most of the recipes
are
something
you
could
easily make with a few hours
notice. In Ina’s recount of her
culinary history, she explains
that she finds the best meals
are often the simplest, coming
from perfected classic recipes.
This explains the prevalence
of meals with humble names
like
“Roast
Chicken
with
Radishes,” “Parmeasan Roasted
Zucchini,” and “Roasted Italian
Meatballs.”
For a television personality,
Garten has done a wonderful
job making her audience feel
like they share an intimate
connection with her. Skimming
through the blurbs written at
the top of each recipe, I found
myself reading some of her
iconic phrases in her voice,
like I was watching the recipe
unfold on her show (“How
smart is that?”). It’s hard to
tell if you want her to be your
grandmother, or your mother,
or your Hampton neighbor.
But the overwhelming reaction
is that her fans do want her
in their life in some capacity
because she seems like such a
fun and friendly person. Her
voice translates nicely from
“Barefoot Contessa” to her
cookbooks, a hard-to-achieve
skill that has certainly been
perfected from years in the
business.
Sitting down with “Cooking
for Jeffrey” is the reading
equivalent of curling up in
a blanket next to a fire —
the warmth Ina has for her
husband and her love for
cooking
radiates
off
every
page. Even for the biggest
skeptic, there is something
beautiful about hearing how
two people fell (and stayed)
in love. “Cooking for Jeffrey”
not only offers a glimpse into
the first few years of Ina and
Jeffrey’s relationship, but you
can rest easy knowing the story
has a happy ending almost five
decades later.
As Garten reminds us in her
“Planning a Party” chapter, food
is no fun unless you’re sharing
it with the people you love, be
it friends, family or Jeffrey.
Cooking for others is a selfless
act that can be deeply personal,
and the ritual of sharing a meal
is only productive if we’re
building on our relationship
with
that
person
through
conversation
and
laughter.
Though especially important
in this political climate, this
lesson is something that each
and every one of us should hold
deeply. Besides, if we learn
anything about sustaining a
marriage from Ina and Jeffrey’s
relationship,
it’s
undeniable
that sharing lots of delicious
meals has only helped.
KATHLEEN DAVIS
Managing Arts Editor
“Cooking for
Jeffrey: A
Barefoot Contessa
Cookbook”
Ina Garten
Oct. 25, 2016
Potter
In the wake of the 2016
election, millions of Americans
are hurting. They’re scared
for themselves, their friends,
their families, even complete
strangers. Also in the wake of
Trump’s win, we’ve seen an
uptick in blatant hate; this week
alone three women have been
attacked or “intimidated” in
Ann Arbor — a liberal Mecca
of sorts in comparison to much
of the country. Nonetheless,
when the darkness seems to be
the darkest it has been in recent
years, the brightness shines
even brighter.
Alicia Keys and A$AP
Rocky vibing in a backyard to
“Blended Family (What You
Do For Love),” the lead single
off Keys’s new album Here,
exudes that brightness. The
video’s three and a half minutes
are a collage of
Keys’s family,
including
husband Swizz
Beats, their
children, as
well as Swizz’s
ex-wife and
their children (Keys’s step-
children), intermingled with
other blended families from all
walks of life. The energy bubbles
with love and affection, further
enhanced by the song’s simple
yet uplifting guitar chords and
honest commentary and relaxed
delivery from the songstress.
The video’s energy, powered by
adoring looks and slow-motion
hugs, overflows with Rocky’s
verse. He begins pacing, rapping
into a notebook while jotting
down lyrics and the smiles
only grow wider and more
infectious from
there. He kisses
his step mom on
her cheek and
a room erupts
into laughter
as he delivers,
“And shoutout
to the step sisters and the step
brothers / And god-sisters, who
eventually slept with us.”
Still, the video’s peak, without
a doubt, is Keys and Rocky
stunting together, feeding into
each other’s energy, each other’s
smiles. She mouths his verse as
he flows next to her, their bodies
lost in the music rather than
choreographed around it. The
track and video serve as a much
needed reminder: “I know how
hard it gets / But I swear it’s
worth it, worth it.”
- CHRISTIAN KENNEDY
MUSIC VIDEO REVIEW
A-
“Blended Family (What You
Do For Love)”
Alicia Keys feat. A$AP Rocky