field trip: parnassus books
I am one lucky person, in part because I live close enough to Nashville to visit Parnassus Books a few times each year. Parnassus Books is co-owned by author Ann Patchett and is a lovely independent bookstore southwest-ish from downtown Nashville.
I can get lost in this little store. I say little, only because we have become used to the big-box sort of bookstores (run by corporations, with pretty much all the same books and seemingly more and more coloring books). Parnassus is smaller in square footage but is full of things I can’t find at, say my local Barnes & Noble.
Now, I have nothing against B & N, but Parnassus Books is a different animal altogether (along with other lovely independents like Square Books in Oxford, MS, City Lights in San Francisco, E. Shaver, Bookseller in Savannah, GA, to name a few). There are books curated by the staff, there are titles that I can’t find on Amazon. There’s a different feeling in these places. They're what bookstores should be.
I was at Parnassus this past weekend, and the place was full of people! The store was buzzing. How grateful I was to spend time there again. I am so glad to have it within my reach and so grateful that it survived the last two years of shutdowns and restrictions. How nice to see it humming along. While I was there, I stumbled upon this quote by Ann Patchett:
"I have no interest in retail; I have no interest in opening a bookstore. But I also have no interest in living in a city without a bookstore...
"If you like this thing, it's your responsibility to keep this thing alive."
Please do what you can to keep your independent bookstore alive, if you have one nearby. If you don’t, search out an independent bookseller while traveling. And if you’re ever lucky enough to be in the great city of Nashville, TN, get to Parnassus Books. You won’t be sorry.
P.S. If you want to read a little about what Ann Patchett has to say about her bookstore and others, check out this New York Times piece she wrote in 2016.