In a front yard . No, what we did is this building was built in the 20s for karl it is very old. Historic building. And the book shop runs around the courtyard cafe, and as you can see particular plenty of people who come and partake of this and we have in music on the weekends but we just think that flows beautifully with books. How many book event dos you do on a regular basis . On a yearly basis we do about 600 book epghts year. About 600 events often kids and adults and other kinds of things. But were a very, very active school. When did you open . I opened books about 35 years ago. Why . Because, you know, the story is basically i was a failed law student english major in college an i didnt want to give up u the dream of being part of a literary culture so one quick way of doing that was getting into the Book Business into book stores and i always loved book stores. When i was a kid i find myself in a bookstore more than i was in college. In law school. So just seemed unnatural. Like cable originally from miami beach believe it or not, and so you know when i moved back from where i was going to school, karl gave us didnt know very well but i explored it and a it was right before an independent book shop. Seems to be a booming town it is surrounded by miami. Yeah about five mile front seat airport. About 26 different little cities, miami beach, miami, hilia, miami itself so karl is one of those little cities and one of the most historic of all of the cities as well. Founded by a man named George Merrick and in the teens, in fact, more of a book that was published on his life by the university of florida. And or it is a gorgeous little city that has become a cultural sham within the miami community. Who is your audience . Or audience is just about everybody actually because of the uniqueness of the store we get people coming from all over. But the local audience is an audience just a couple of blocks away with is ridge area where in a Business District across the street is a wonderful art cinema as well. But what we like to think we draw them from everywhere actually. Youre actually involved in the book fair. What is jr. Involvement . One of the founders along with eduardo, i was a young kid, and had no idea of what had the future would bring and eduardo and other book sellers together and lets put on a book fair and he said greats. And we did, and miami at the time was in the early 80s. In the magazine had a store that says miement paradise law in a big question mark. I think what ed war with doe wanted to do was bring rights to miami in the book fair, and ive been to new york, book country and others, put together a whole Community Came together, it was a very Diverse Community at the time. Still is and we decided to kateer to diverseness. What is it today . A very is entry brant interesting city with so many different communities that are so different more than others yet tied together by its diversity. It revel it is in its diversity. What is happening Cultural Community is becoming really much more sophisticated. We have incredible writers here. Top men and women, and movie moonlight was a miami original more or less. So theres a lot happen hadding here. That wasnt happen hadding when i was a kid growing up in miami beach back in the 70s to early 60s. The festival started out with two day. Back almost 34 years ago and it fell a full week, and we have now probably close to 600 offers that have come over the week period of the book fair. And it really is something that miami is not really proud of is, big tent under which all of miami sits, and so its been something that i take a lot of pride in so does miami why has miami developed such a writers village . Weprobably spent two tore or the programs on that. You know miami started probably if you ask people about miami they would have told you about the mystery writers like charles throughout miami blues, even orlando hung out here, and you know [inaudible conversations] all of those guys, and then that all happened because miami was so strange. You know all of the strange murders that took place here. You know the cocaine cowboys. Couldnt make up something that didnt appear in the news a few days or few months later. But since that early, early plus of miami you then begin to find miami as a community becoming more rich allowing to live here. We have some like who won the kingsly prize, and he lives here in wright. You have a wonderful fiction writer living here. You have an incredible diverse Latin American Community people writing in spanish. And portuguese, so you do have the diversity of miami is what you made it to interesting. Couple of authors one of the authors we talk to on mendez from cuba, talked to one from haiti, all of those writers are so important to what makes up miami now. Well welcome to miami. This is booktv on cspan2, and for the next two hours were going to have a discussion about book and writing, what youre reading, what some of our guests are reading as well. Mitchell kaplan is poundser, owner of books and bookstore. Pef this location in gable. They have a location at the miami airport as well and where else . Were in lincoln road on south beach. Were in the beautiful [inaudible conversations] and then also in the performing arts center. Adrian and performing arts. We have a store there as well. And then weve opened up a new store, books and box and bikes a bookstore, bike shop. That is in lynwood which is our version of a little bit of brooklyn with, you know, incredible it is, it is. Well, were going to be having that interactive discussion on cspan live programs your chance to participate. Well put the phone numbers up a little bit later after we meet or ore guests so why dont we go on inside and well join our other guests as well. Let tom go in first because hes got the camera. So mimple el kaplan can an independent bookstore thrive and survive today . I think most definitely. Right now independent bookstores are come intog their own once again. I think last year there was Something Like 60, to 70 new book shops that have opened, and theres something for real spaces and what people do on internet. Theres certainly internet shopping that goes on but a sense of community thats created with with a real space like a book shop. Is this a Community Space go ahead and sit down. Oh, most definitely it is i think we are really about spaces. See folks that have joined us are that familiar spaces in some ways . Yes. Regular mirrors . Lets introduce you to mmfa program at Florida International university and author on its rights and mendez a an author, former journalist. Autumn menendez you have a book called in cuba i was a German Shepherd how do you come up with a title like that, and what does that mean . Not autobiographical. It was punch line to a joke that i heard when i was a reporter used to cover little havana, my first time at the harold. And it was a joke that a wonderful sculptor and i didnt know how to do it but it stayed with me and when i left journalism and began to write fiction i was going to write a story revolving around this joke 2378 lets stand before what is master of fine arts and how do you get into your program at fiu. Master of fine arts is degree that i would he hesitate to tell parents to send their daughter and sons to come to because the the parents probably want them to learn how to sell bonds. [laughter] do thing they can make sure can sell their children a lot of money and you dont become a writer to become rich and famous. What we do is offer the opportunity to those people who cant do anything else to take that talent. Thank you. To take that talent and bring it to the max to shape it into a into a way that will find that audience that that the person is looking for. And its a like all of the arts, many, many, many are called and very few are chosen, but the reason were there i think is to give those applicants and students that are admitted professional tools so that when they go out into that cold, cruel world, they really know whats required that is not a guarantee of success as we know, the arts are terribly competitive. But ours are very practical minded program not theoretical at all. You want to reach your audience. Let talk about what your audience is, lets talk about how you can take that talent that is already there and hone it to the professional level. I often liken it to a bunch of young men who have shown up have been drafted by the nfl, they show up at summer training kmp, an the coach says you know youre tremendously talented. Now lets talk about what it takes to operate at the professional level. Day one, all of those fresh faces looking at you, what do you tell them . What do they learn day one . That youve got a lot of talent or you wouldnt be. Lets talk about how to shape that talent in a way that makes a connection . You know, everybody who come miss is very good at expression but i say you know babies are too. They just nobody wants to hear what they have to say. Youre very good at expressing yourself what were talking about is making that connection with the audience. How does that happen . What does it take . Autumn menendez when you sit town to write a book, whats the most difficult part for you . Well let me just say before that is you wouldnt know it by his use of the word but mys professor many, many year ago hes not to blame for anything. [laughter] but he was the only class that i took and it was undergraduate all needed encompass everything from soim very grateful to him, of course, for that. And then i have a book that i still carry which was a book that he used and i think still uses by anyways whats the hard est thing when i sit down to write . These days it is sitting down to write because i have a small child, and time has just gotten away from me unfortunately. Were showing this book. What is it about this book that works for you . Well, i have i brought three books and theyre all of poetry that have been very important to me throughout my life, and the first one was karl samburg well wind i think was first one and then early moon which my uncle Joni Martinez who is a poet mitch gave me as i was a child. I was i think i was six or seven when he gave me had the first one. This one dedicated in 1979 so i was nine, and it was a very it was just a beautiful i remember the fog comes in and it just a beautiful book and i think that what it did for me was that it demystified poetry were so afraid of poetry, and it just made it, you know, part of my language. And then there was this book that they introduced to me almost 30 years ago i suppose it is now. And [laughter] all of us here, and then another bosks one that i picked up here at books of books. When i was a columnist in miami harold and kind of having a rough ride i used to hang out here a lot, and i especially among poetry books for some reason and i picked up i think of it yeah youll see it heavily. The odes which were these are new translation by contemporary poets edited and theyre fantastic, and it is a nice, piece of comfort. And you know why do you wear infinite question request your fie finite midnight. Obvious question i have thoughinging your love of poetry but youre not a poet. I know how hard it is. How do you incorporate it into writing and influence your writing . Im not sure it has. Although some people will say that my writing is lyrical. But i think its just the love of the word and the sentence, with and a sense of the rhythm of the section but also what had poetry strives for kind of capturing of the inevitable in very words i think is such a wonderful calling for the writer. So youve written both nonfiction and fiction books, on the series. But youre not a poet either. Why do you teach or bring poetry into a writing class . Well the fact is when i was in graduate school in ffa program in utah even more than 30 years ago [laughter] we were forced even if we thought of ourselves as fiction writers to take a class in the realm of poetry and i remember walking across the campus that january morning to take a class with henry taylor who went on to win the National Book award in poetry, and thinking well, this is it. The jig is up. After this class im out of here because my idea of poetry was by the shores of gichy gloomy and no idea what modern poetry was but i went there and discovered a whole new world and first three or four years after the graduated only thing i could publish were poems so i was for many years practicing poet and enjoyed it, and came to understand i think that poets are after the same central moment that fiction writers are at the end of a story or at the end of the novel. All of we we writers want to have the read or put down the piece regardless of how long it is and say yeah. That is exactly right. That is what i was looking for. We want that moment, and what i envy poets is like popular songwriters, they can get that in a page. Theythey can get that in such a short period of time a and gees im working 2, 300 pages two or three years to get that hopefully that they havent of a book. But were all in it together and other thing i learned that the words are so important to me that language of every sentence even nonfiction or fiction is just as important to me as was a line of poetry. Recent nonfiction by less [inaudible conversations] last train to pair dice who was harry and his role in florida . I was going to call the book the man who invented florida thats who he is. [laughter] because before Henry Flagler there wasnt much to florida. The largest city in the state was jacksonville with about 4,000 people who were couple of thousand people in tampa and a few if you drew a line from jacksonville up to the top of the state west, southwest to tampa, about in the middle of the state that was as far as you could go. There was no palm beach. There was no book, there was no miami. And there was a key west. The most important city in the state flying away with 20,000 people in an inimportant naval station but you can only there by bet and after flagler came into the state in the early 1880s it remained that way. But he did an amazing thing after extending his rare road down eastern seaboard of florida creating palm beach make changing a creating miami who called fort dallas and then someone came to him with notion expanding that railroad over 153 large miles to key west, and time he was 72 years old had all of the money he ever needed and still he said im going to do it. I think he was motivated by the fact that people said it is impossible. But he proved that the impossible could be done and in doing so he stitched together to the continent that little island, the last part of the main really close american frontier in 1912. Hes responsible for that traffic jam on 95. No matter how many lanes to key webcast there will never be enough. Because people are just fascinated with going to the ends of the american road, and as he was Mitchell Kaplan what are you reading today . Ive been reading a book that many people know there are two books that ive been reading. One is book by atool called being mortal and if you havent read you ought to read it is really kind of amazing im dealing with sickness in my own family and has been very, very helpful in terms of understanding how one deals with an elderly parents and kinds of things to look out for and kind of conversations to have and that sort of thing so being immortal has been really good and will as always so kind of remarkable in its collections and essays about different books and you know a book called books for living. And it is a series of books that have been fired at him over the years and so ive been reading this to get a little bit of sustenance to face challenging tiles over the last couple of weeks actually. Autumn menendez the same question. Well, i just finished secondhand time [inaudible conversations] its just ive been rarely recommend books just because i feel its so personal and i dont to impose my taste on people. But it is a really beautiful book and i love everything it be. Its a course of voices about the end of the soviet union. It covers gulac big picture of the war, and she is talks to ordinary people about their struggles with the end the soviet union. And i love it so much because the voices she collects are astonishing with the source they are astonishing and fact that theyre ordinary people is something that i think we aspire to a fiction writer, this is book of nonfiction. But this is what we aspire to is so illuminate lives of ordinary people until extraordinary circumstances and how they rise to those occasions. And this is a collection of, you know, maybe hundreds of these voices. Im really, i really love this book. Im reading right now im not it shalled with it, in fact, im only at number nine a small book its a small book more like a long essay on 20 lessons on 20 9 century by timny snyder just came out, and you were talking about the things you can get at bookstores that you cant get on internet and number nine which i ended today is be kind to our language boy pronouncing phases everyone else does. Think of your own way of speaking, and then on and on make an effort to separate yourself from the internet read book. [laughter] i thought ill tend there. And then i just finished reading its kind of a obscure for most American Writer called bahomio a czech writer and i just finished reading too loud a solitude which is about about what books give you and the its a quirky book. Its not not anything that i thk will be established here because theres no real plot but a very short book about a man who collects waste paper and when sees books hts and builds a big collapse on him. So in it, theres no real plot pulling you through. Itit is just this love of books and its a beautiful lings book and i just finished reading it. Once gun again authors name [inaudible conversations] and book name too loud of solitude. Professor what is on your reading list . Preface but second on third the idea of browsing in a bookstore, with the delight theres no such thing white the interpret is wonderful and it gets books out there and allows people to reach things that they might not have otherwise on and on but no such thing as a pile of books on a table on the interpret. You come into nonfiction of books and may be youre looking for something and you keand find it while youre looking for it you see a dozen other books you see covers you pick them up an maybe your honor learn how to do this on the internet but i never have. It is wonderful the kind of browsing that we warrant. The second thing i want to say is about being asked of what youre reading reading my students manuscript. Thousands of pages they multiply like a mudslide in california during the rainy season. [laughter] some of them thank god, because have graduate students too and undergraduates are good, and i also read many of the books of the people who have come to know in this business. But sort of like following up on what anna said i come to the point where i just cant bring myself in public to say you should read this one because what if some of the other friend is listening in there thinking well why tonight you read my book. This book you know what [laughter] listen, im never even read im sneaking up on my answer. [laughter] but you know, my lifelong friend and wonderful writer who many of you know says south florida mystery writer i wouldnt dream of missing a james novel and i hope you some of you feel the same way. But couple of books that ive been reading recently and i have nothing to do with these dont do not know these people. One a novel that is going to come out of here in a couple of weeks is called unreliable by a guy named lee ervi and he wrote a couple of almost unknown historical history it is in the early part of this century. And this book is is real tour deforce about a fellow on first page says you cant trust a thing i say. [laughter] but i may have just killed my exwife and im not so sure if perhaps my lover too. [laughter] and thats how it will begin so to me it was a dare that i konts konts pass up. It carries along and you finally find out who done it by the end i think by that time youre laughing so hard you dont really care. [laughter] really enjoyed that. A different kind of book, nonfiction, piece of nonfiction that i think is just absolutely remarkable. I cant imagine anyone reading this and not being swept away by it called rise by kara, and its the story of a whose family she was abused her family and her children abused and she back withs out and gets it in her mind that the way she will save this family, put it back together is to build a house from raw land, up and she manages to do it in the record of it is absolutely astonishing. I i cant recommend it highly enough. Well before we go any further i want to get our Television Audience involved were going to put the phone number up on the screen. Were talking about books. Were tag about reading. Were talking about what youre reading so if you dial the number in, please please let us know what youre reading right now or what kind of books you read. But weve got three people very involved in the world of literature and books and heres your chance to ask them some questions as well. 202 is area code 748, 8200 for those of you in east and central time zone. 202 if you live in the mountain and pacific time zone now you can contact us on social media as peel a at booktv is our twitter handle. You can make a comment on our Facebook Page it should be right there at the top. Facebook. Com booktv and finally an email to booktv at cspan. Org. Also we have an audience here at books and books one of the 600 events that are happening this year at books and books, and were going to be passing around a mic in just a few minutes so if you have any questions for our panel as welg please ask them. We pulled books and books best sellers we got this information from your staff mr. Kaplan, and the top selling at books and books right now as far as nonfiction goes hill billy by jd vance, have any of you read this this has made a lot of list, a lot of best seller lists, et cetera. Given our world today has anyone picked this up . When you see a best seller list do you go to those books . [laughter] well, you know the way probably pretty much like last a lot of times im reading books far in advance before books have actually come out so i cially dont necessarily pick up a book because it is a best seller. But ive certainly heard mr. Vance you know i think on cspan and all over the place talk about this book. So i understand why its such a big seller trying to explain this selection more or less. And he does an interesting way. Not usually pick it up but i rely on the staff books and books or friends this on tyranny was recommended by my friend the novelist christina garcia. And i bought it immediately and it wasnt this point at all but also tries to explain last selection or rather next one trying to save us. [laughter] excuse me and i also get recommendations from other books i mean books arent like good friends they lead you to good books, in fact, they have a really great blurb for this book on tyranny and it is really coif a tree of association that is how i find my bock and book reviews things like that. Jennifer. Very rarely you know, im an outliar. Writers are for the most part live on the edge on outside looking in, and im always looking for that book that no one has had told me about. I dont have to worry about one that everybody has heard about. I know it will well taken care of and read by readers and im always looking for the other one. Also i should say one of the things that weve done as an industry, independent book seller in the industry we have indy next an indy next list and comes in brochure is like this and you can find it. What it does is it has book seller recommendations each month i believe it is about 20 different books, and theyre actually blurbs from book sellers all over the country a diverse list. Very interesting list and book that was chosen as the number book for this month of march was exit west. By moshi hamid and book you might not sleard of before. I think the dirty little secret in books is theres so many books being published that all of us book sellers, authors, peel in the media, any time we can shine a light on something that is not tcially well known it does that author and book a great service. Because none of us have the kind of money that it take to have to advertise wide like you would if you were selling razor blades or something else. So all of us have a duty to be able to let people know about those books that are really, really good and really important to each of us. Well this reminds mitchell too of alan schutte his daughter is here used to say he didnt really like to give bad reviews if he didnt like a book he wouldnt you know do that review. Because there were so many wonderful books that were being published and deserve to be praised given a wider audience and that was philosophical stand and ive never forgotten that. Before we get any further in, there seems to be a really strong cuban American Writers community. Especially maybe because were in south florida. But fair statement . I went with a group of them to cuba and we just cam back a couple of weeks ago where i picked up this horrible cold, and otherwise great trip, and there is. And we we know each other. We try to support each other and we just did an event last saturday here. With the cuban at fiu. Yeah. While here. I want to show this book as well by anna. This is loving what is this about . Thats my second book, my first novel, and its about a woman who goes back to cuba to find out what happened to her mother. Her mother abandoned her to the states with her grandfather and stayed in cuba. And developed a love affair with [inaudible conversations] may or may not have been in her mind. And it ruins her life and ruins her daughters life, and yeah. To voice. This is an autograph copy that we pick here at books and books. [laughter] hard to get back. [laughter] thats the end of her david the historian has a new book coming out in april is that a u must read . In i think you know what i mean. Now, thats one of those when i said rarely well thats one of the instance where is, obviously, im going to go look at the chief in my area, and see what hes up to. See what hes doing and a eric larson and simon and those guys are going to be on the best seller list with whatever it has think bring out because theyre good and i want to see what theyre doing because aspire thats the bar you aspire to the very best, and you dont turn away from it. You i think you try your best to do what the best are doing. Mitchell kaplan davids new book how do you how do you stock your shelves with that . Do you order five copies . Enter this room david all through here. No, hes he is one of the great best selling authors who sells across every single retailout let. As i was telling you earlier theres sol best selling authors who we wont really very much of because theyre found in costco or other places an theyre not necessarily books that speak to our Customer Base but customer does as does eric larson and others mentioned but red lights nice thing about having a book shop is being able to have met school of the authors over the course of time and david was coming down to miami very early on when he wrote the john adams biography because his daughter very few people know this, about his i cant remember son or his daughter was married to senator bob grahams child as well and they were living in miami. So david would come down and browse in my old shop and there was Nothing Better than a day in which david came in and to be able to tack to him about books and all of that sort of thing. Hes a wonderful guy. I dont to put you on the spot but relatively famous customers who come in. I dont know if you want to say their names or not. Youve told me. Name is being top florida so diverse. You never know who you will meet in the store. You can have you could have you know one of the most conservative senators sitting in the in the courtyard and then browsing shelves to be one of the most liberal Congress People here. So we have people of all kinds that come in and out of the book shop and thats what we think of as a bookstore is a very safe space with all kinds of plel views are welcome. Thats not the case necessarily on my own Facebook Page but certainly is the case in the bookstore is where we welcome voices of all kinds. Smg we will recently up at politics and book stores in washington where theyre doing you know we talked to it in musk teen coowners about to teach him what theyre doing. Is that something a that a lot of independence are doing . One of the phase you know in the incredible upheaval is that theyre talking about what can we do to act as True Community centers and i think that best thing that we can do is try to bring rationality and fact based discussion back into, into our dialogue into our civic dialogue. And were going to start a series called shine on, and you know shine on immigration, and shine on other issues. It comes from a poem that autumn wrote 1939 i believe in which we talks about darkness descending before world war ii and way that we keep darkness from descending completely is to shine lights at each other that allow darkness to be fought off. And i think the role of a book seller is Something Like that as well. I want to say that miami is a remarkable Literary Center when i came mere in 1981 that was i looked around i saw a lot of guys with shirts up to navals riding fast boat but i wasnt there were a lot of people reading books in miami and there was no books and books yet and chase we in past 35 years whats happened to this place in ternals of a couple of universities developing mfa program and books spreading all over, a a Community Well most exciting thing is an educator having students like other people who have gone to become important spokespersons cuba pan American Community see that actually developing before your very eyes in your bard and be able to give people from part [inaudible conversations] that place is amazing. Were very, very fortunate. When you think about it you have a rise of a book fair with year round programming miami dave college with fiu Florida University of him. I recall earlier on when the wonderful writer and you mentioned before was here in miami for grant to james had Given University of miami when he wrote the book caribbean and he left some money and remind me to encourage caribbean writer. And i remember as a young girl coming into the book shop with reading of a book not published yet. So you know you see this this growth and it has been really wonderful to see how a Literary Community can have such an impact on the growth of the city as well. Of course there were in the 80s and before there were wonderful Spanish Language bookstores which no longer [inaudible conversations] downtown bookstore and those are no longer no longer theyre closed. And part of the reason is that the major book shops as well started to sell books in spanish thats why there arent as many book shops around as well and in fact some of our best sellers are books . In spanish german girl i wont try to speak spanish when im not goig to pretend that im the fliewngt when im not. [inaudible conversations] i speak english. It was ceased at cuban book fair. They wouldnt let actually they gave it an award and ceased it at the book fair and nonpolitical book. [laughter] although apparently draws parallels between the germany and the, you know castro. Could be fair. Decent Spanish Language and we have a Spanish Language program. Programming that happens in spanish and rereally try as much as we can to cater to the broad Cross Section of spanish writers here. Who often dont get a voice. It is hard to publish in spanish actually. The other thing that has happened i should say interest about miami is that were also developing a Publishing Community here where we never did have one before. Theres a marvelous just blocks away called mango media and they publish lots and lots of different books they have a deal with the ap who say publish some books by the ap. They publish books by the miami harold and then they publish a lot of original works as well and thats just beginning to develop. Which is so nice to see as well. Autumn menendez are your books available in cuba . I dont know. I didnt go looking for them. This time that i was there or any time ive been there. I did bring copies of my books for some literary we met with some authors and some literary critics so i brought them. But unfortunately the only book that has translated to spanish f mine is loving chi. I was hoping they bought the rights looming in spain with a German Shepherd and waiting for it because i wanted my grandmother to read it and my grandmother died in 2010, and book has not been translated into spanish unfortunately. And now and then i hear people saying id like to translate the book and please do and nothing happens. Which is a pity. But i brought the english copies. Ever thought about translating it yourself . No. I write now and then in spanish. But english is really my strongest language now even though i spoke spanish exclusively until five or six. But i went to school in english written in english so strongest language and you should only translate into your strongest language. We have callers on the line and youre very patient lets hear from michael in galesburg, illinois youre on c are span 2 from miami. Hows it going . I wonder if anybody on the panel heard of richard rodgan watermelon and ill take my answer off air. Thanks, bye. Thank you, sir. I see you nodding your head. He was talking about richard an interesting writer, and richard brotgan and which i was in high school but richard is a very interesting writer his own write. In new york [inaudible conversations] do you know what were going to have to put mary on hold for just a second. Sign the line mary. Reminder that you if you get on youll hear everything through your trch lets move on to brian right here in miami brian go ahead. I was asking about to ask this panel you know individuals or [inaudible conversations] development of the future. I couldnt hear can you reare repeat it more slowly having trouble hearing you. Yeah. My question was the panel and i wanted to ask what can individuals do to support bookstores local aand help them develop to the future . Thank you, sir, and were not going to ask Mitchell Kaplan that story. [laughter] we know what hes gopg going to say but well go to [inaudible conversations] you know. One of the most natural things instead of an idea of what to buy is to come into is an evening program. Listen to people talk or read, then browse and you probably come out of here with an armloads of books. You dont have to think too much about how to support this story if you just come in and feel it. Love the question because that is something we cant take them for granted like we cant take our newspaper for granted or institutions for granted and something that Timothy Snyder talked about so i love the question an love empus of it and what he said just come in all the time. Ill meet people for lunch and pill say well lets go to books and books because i get time to browse and were surrounded by this great collection and yeah. What a great concept to have a cafe, a coffee shop and bookstore when i was growing up two things never crossed paths what a marvelous notion. Did predate borders in barnes noble doing is this . What happened was as i told you earlier i was dropout of law school from the loot and i went to law school in washington, d. C. In your neck of the woods and i happen to live right down the street from kramer books and afterwards which was one of the first bookstore cafes ive ever seen and those days more bookstore than cafe now i think it has become more cafe than bookstore. But it is and what politics and pros is doing with busboys and poets as well. So i always felt that it was unnatural coming together of that sense of Community Revolutions could be hatched over a cup of coffee and that sort of thing but felt it was a natural, natural fit and while we were able to find this phase with a courtyard it all, you know, light bull l about went off and all made perfect sense. So important also to reconnect after this crisis to reconnect with the analog world and book stores are the place and it is a place to connect with friends facetoface three or four of them instead and on facebook, and that has helped me. Funny you said that buzz i love the analog world i saw one of the books to recommend was moon globe my michael on one his earlier books about a record store is and from the loss of record stores, and i heard of him give a lecture once about the notion of old technologies. And how just because technologies are all marijuana on their way out doesnt mean therm bad. And that made me immediately boy a turntable and i started collecting older analog records, and that led me to start selling older analog records in the Different Stores that we have and theres a lot of people out there looking to do that. And it made me think if i were to do another story nobody stealing this idea an call it analog sell type writers and you know records and turntables and [laughter] all of that so i think as you know trombone. A book coming out in which it is a selection of stories and hes a collector of typewriters and each story has a typewriter a different typewriter that is central element in the story. That will be on september. And then another person paul who is marvelous called four, three, two, one, paul writes all of his books on a typewriter and 900 page, and so i think he probably wore out two or three you had an event here. So paul in knew magician and did a celebration, a Birthday Celebration of pauls 70th birthday as well. Our libraries analogs . If theyre selling books they are, libraries to me are those things that we need to support until as in greater numbers and louder voices because libraries are the places of Young Readers and it is almost a place of entry for people who want to read. And also very democratic. You know, less where a book about Karen Carnegie and he know why is started a library and foundation to get people who arent able to purchase things to go in and get a book for free. So another why did you call your book ill see you in hell . [laughter] well thats at the center of the bosks the bit of this Bitter Partnership the richest man in the world at the time and somebody wasnt to far was clay, and he had a terrible falling out. Spent 20 years without speaking towards the end when therm both sick carnegie sent his butler down the street brick mentioned now that brick museum in new york, and with a note that said that out of time getting up there in years perhaps about to meet their makers shouldnt they get together and try to pass things up before they died and his response was to the guy who brought them to note carnegie wants to meet me does he . You can tell him well meet in hell and thats title of the story but i went to a number of those libraries that carnegie founded around the world a thousand of them and several hundred still in operation and all of the ones in pitts bring particularly full. Absolutely full of kids, Elementary School kids many of them who were going to computers there they didnt have access to it at home but just as many with a pile of books around them doing books for school and gave me help that libraries found a way to connect and stay relevant and to the 21st century. Those place were jampacked ill tell ya. Weve got a microphone in the audience and raise your hands and get to you after we hear from everett in sedona, arizona. Go ahead. Hey, i have a question i dont want to keep you too long. But its pretty isolated out here living in sedona there isnt even a bookstore here, and i i had a professional life in advertising and ive made a move into writing, and my one question is, is there any value to self publishing is there, is that like spitting in the wind or is there something to that . To go that direction . Everett do you have a library in sedona and do you frequent it . Yes, we do theres the Sedona Library and im there a lot. Sir, thank you for calling in lets go right down the panel and lets hear. Selfpublishing. We know the example of fifty shades of grey that worked out [laughter] in that instance the shack sell published coming out it can happen but look being struck by lightning. But the odds you might learn something about by selfpublishing you might discover whether or not theres an audience that you didnt suspect. Its the long shot way to go because the difficulty in self it is democratic allows you to get out there and publish your book but real question becomes how do you draw attention to your book once it is on the internet and boy, i dont know u enough about those Marketing Efforts to say. But that fills me with dismay. The prospect of how do you well once you put it up how do you get people to find it . I agree wasnt bridges in Madison County as well selfpublished at first. The version what was that, maybe im wrong. A long time ago. But i dont remember. Yeah. There are as he said you can become a multimillionaire like you know. Fifty shades of grey. But i think a better rout something they cant interest an agent is to go the contest rout where many small that have contest or manuscript poetry or short fiction and you know to go that rout perhaps first because i think what youre up against is what he said. Is theres so many books being published and so many books published by established publishers that still dont get seen and dont get marketed in people dont learn about that youre really setting yourself up for obscurity perhaps. Before we hear from mr. Kaplan have either of yoif as authors thought about selfpublishing . No, i havent. No. Thats a a tough game but ive always accepted the fact that ive if i cant break in, then i work doesnt merit it. Lets go i agree with everything what they said. But i would add to that is as a writer you have to ask what your purpose is. If your purpose is just to get something out, maybe so that you can document an experience that you had then maybe its very those in your family or those people who are you know in your Broader Community then selfpublishing might be the way to go. If it is to make money maybe its not. And only other thing i would say is left out something important he wrote a book about a guy who did selfpublish that became a gigantic selfpublisher man who nchted christmas about Charles Dickens writing of a Christmas Carol. Christmas carol was the great selfpublish book that is almost sold more copies than just about any other book, and only difference was there that he had five booings that had proceeded at some of which had published more sold more copies than any book ever had previously. And he had basis on which to build. But we have to create excitement about this. But theres more to this story. We did a movie based on that book so you cant really too much. That was a very big, major to do if im trying to be a selfhelp in se done know. But yeah wait until november comes then. You see this movie. Did. A Christmas Carol published. Think of it. Ana menendez is Charles Dickens important to read today. I remember reading a Christmas Carol. I must have been eight years old or something before christmas. I also read 1984 and 1984. [laughter] and aquest they needed 2017. [laughter] i think so. We have these discussions about the canon and should we still be reading these and i do not see this as an either or. I see this meeting as an and. You read dickens and you read others and so yes, i mean there is a lot that he can teach you as a writer. As can so many. I mean i do not believe in saying these people dont. Guest us anymore. And maybe they dont. Guest everybody. But you may find yourself you know spoken to by somebody that seems irrelevant now. Do you have a question here in the audience, anybody . Well, we will go then. If you can tell is your first name. Mary. Hi mary. A question, how do you find and decide on a particular topic to write about . Thank you. That is a great question and it is always, i am always drawn i think as paul harvey was. You remember the old program where he would say the rest of the story . He always pick someone famous. George washington and then you dont know where he is going and then assist you understand that this is about George Washington . You did not know that, did you . Well i will be back in a couple of minutes to take the rest of that story. He loved to revitalize, his whole point was to get people interested in George Washington as a person again. By going after something that had not been made much of. But was still in harveys mind important. Well, that is what i look for. What big story out there does, do people not know everything about . That is a tall order and it takes time. But i keep looking and i keep looking and i keep looking and sometimes the Charles Dickens story came from one of those blast emails. It came on the anniversary of a publication of a Christmas Carol. I realize that Charles Dickens had to self publish a Christmas Carol and several of the questions. Did i know that Charles Dickinson was broken buddy to quit at the time . The answer was no. So i do not remember who sent me that email. Im sure im going to hear from them now. [laughter] but, i immediately audit has been taken from somebodys book as they often are. And i went looking for the book and the book was not there. And i said well, i have an idea. And away i went. You know i was there doing mansions on fifth avenue. Everybody kind of knew about that carnegie was the richest guy in the world but did they know that he and this kind actually come to fists in their office over a business deal . And that led to that book. But finding out that there is material they are about an important or a largerthanlife figure and a largerthanlife set of actions that people have not heard about before. [inaudible] can you repeat that . How did you begin your search . The dickens story found me. As im finishing up work on another book, im saying to myself well what is next . And i am working on now, in book about the struggle for the power to control the circus industry. Another gilded age story. Barnum versus bailey versus ringling. Which came to me because my wife showed me a plaque on a Hotel Grounds over in a ritzcarlton in naples florida this is did you know John Ringling once on this farmland . And is the will of course not. Who would have ever thought that John Ringling owned this land. Turns out you know forget the service that was just a seed money for a fortune i never knew about. It is like that. And while we are getting the mic over to the next person here in the audience, lets hear from michael in pasadena california. Michael, please go ahead you are on booktv. Caller i read. [inaudible] but then i read white trash which is a history of discrimination and the class structure in this country. Some colonial times although it up to the present and that is an extraordinary book if you want to know why, the south with respect to the north. And the discrimination which has taken place. Not just against the black people. But also against white people and how that is today. The other book i have been reading and it is a very important book as well, is washingtons farewell address. Essentially in that book you see how washington saves the United States three times. Once in the revolutionary war and twice as he became president. At times in this country could have easily have fallen apart. And the interesting thing that i take away from all of these books essentially is essentially how people who the Supreme Court justice who believed in originality knew very well that there is no such thing as originality. What they are really doing is theyre worried about going outside the bounds of the constitution. And so theyve invented this thing about what was in the minds of the founders and pretending that is not there today. So there is my take away from those three books. All of them have being on booktv. So thank you. Host yes they have. Thank you so much for that. Any comments for that collar . I just know that white trash has been wildly successful. Host Nancy Eisenberg i believe. Yes. Host did you notice an uptick in sales after november 8 . Absolutely. We noticed an uptick particularly in sales with books dealing with some of the issues that the campaign brought out. It reminded me of a book that i wanted to point out. I just seen this Motion Picture and a kind of, it is a film, a documentary that roel peck did. It is called i am not your negro. And it is really taken from all of the text of james baldwin. So this film and this book really does bring back, take you back to the time when baldwin was such an intrinsic part of the national discussioi the 60s and early 70s. And it tells you how relevant he is to today as well. These are the kinds of books that have been selling after the election as well. What about art of the deal . Have any of you read that and do have it for sale here . We do have it for sally believe it is in the fiction section. [laughter] i am kidding, i am kidding. But, art of the deal. I have not seen a big uptake to be frank with you. Certainly Tony Schwartz did all he could do to promote it in one way or another. But, you know it is probably a book that we all should be together to get an insight into our president today. But i did not see a very big uptake although it did sell quite a bit. More. Ana menendez . Have a radically now. I met Tony Schwartzs piece on his regrets and in the new yorker. But mitchell is right. It is something that we should read. I just do not know if it really gives insight to him work Tony Schwartz is, if it is makebelieve mythmaking. Which i guess is also important to know. I remember looking at it. At the time. But again, i really did not know enough about the subject matter to be able to discern for myself whether it was based on fact or based on Donald Trumps opinion. And since i am not a businessman i just said this book is not for me. But i remember looking at it because it was the biggest deal of the time. When the book came out it was a big big seller. I think my kids were in preschool at the time and if certainly no one knew donald trump as the figure. The thought of him really as what the book said it was. Which was, in fact i think that book probably started more than many books that i can think of, there are a few books you know jane fondas workup book started the whole workout book craze. And then health diet book craze. And in the art of the deal it really to start the business book craze to a large extent. Because of how well it sold. We have another question in the audience. What is your first name . My name is sonja. Hi sonia. I thought i would ask a question. The question from the caller about selfpublishing made me think of this question which i am wondering about. Of course the other panelists can wait and. For people in towns and cities that have lost their bookstores, im just wondering obviously there is a behemoth that we all know about where you can go online and order books and there delivered the next day and that feels so quick and easy but i am just wondering mitchell specifically if you would talk about a little bit, go back to people in the country that might be watching us right now how there are ways for them to support local bookstores, independent bookstores throughout the country and maybe offer some insight about ways to kind of be involved or we mentioned in the next. That is one thing but im just curious about your discussion about bookstores becoming Community Oriented places for people that arent, that do not have access to this. How can they reap the benefits . Is a great question i think i would broaden it just a little bit since you brought that up. And that is that i firmly believe that independent bookstores, we are all Small Businesses. And it goes to a larger issue of how we ought to support our Small Businesses. In the communities that we live. Because so often, Small Businesses are the ones that are affected by Online Retail more than anything else. And Small Business really is, there have been studies to show that every dollar spent in a Small Business locally is expending for five dollars on the internet. And the money stays in the community. People get jobs in the community. He will have Small Businesses usually buy their supplies from other members of the community. So really, what i say about independent bookstores applies to Small Business as well. It is the notion of the thirdplace. After home, after work whered you go . You go to the local bar, the local restaurant. The local beauty parlor or barbershop. The local bookstore. That notion to the thirdplace is really really important to create a sense of community. And it goes to what we were talking about before. Which also goes to specific engagements. The more you communicate with your neighbors the more cynically engaged you are. One way or another it and then it goes back to hillbilly or white trash is notion of how diverse we are as a society. The more we get to know one another, the more were able to really talk to one another about issues that matter. And not in our own little silos as well. And i think thats what it bookstore does. Probably better than most other kinds of places. If youre in a place that does not have a bookstore, what can you do . Well, it is hard. But one of the things you can do is think about starting a bookstore. Think about starting your own bookstore. Can you start one today . It is amazing on i go to industry meetings. There were kids that were my age and they are 2526 starting bookstores. Like in athens, georgia, small towns of missouri and small towns in indiana. And these are independent bookstores starting. Places that you would not think, you think would be over bookstores like brooklyn. They now have a million new bookstore starting. New jersey and other places. So yeah, i think it is a very viable kind of thing for younger people to think of as an institution. And one way of doing that would be to get involved with the american booksellers association. There are ways that you can learn how to do it. And you know, i am always asking for advice. And a piece of advice i was give to a bookseller in miami is misread by the building that you open your store. Something i never learned. [laughter] someone asked me what have you learned as a bookseller in miami . And i say i learned i should have been a realtor. [laughter] and but anyway, there are ways in which you can make it today. Lets hear from our authors about this question. About the Online Presence of booksellers. You want your books to sell on amazon, dont you . Yes, of course. You want your book to sell. You know when i was living overseas, living in istanbul and living in cairo and then i spent five years in the netherlands. I was always afraid to tell this but i really lived for my candle because it was the only way for me to get the new releases and primarily, i said this at a panel somewhere that i am primarily a reader before i am a writer. We have panelists that are real writers that were kind of shocked but i really am at my happiest as a reader. And not having access to that was really difficult. I wanted to keep up my reading so i do want to state that. Im grateful that there is another option. In the future we will go wherever you go. Wherever you are. [laughter] thank you, follow me around. That said, you know echo everything that mitchell said about the need for Civic Engagement in this idea of rejoining the world that so many of us abandoned. Part of this is to come back. And you make these happy finds of about the indignity wanted. And you run into people who can give you recommendations and challenge you. And that is really important for all of us to do. And book bookstores are the place that really make that happen. It brings us the news. I want to say, the kind of thing, kind of mission that we are on is to do things like this. It is a wonderful book called hearts of men. This is a book most people would not know about. But were going to have an event with him. Thank you, we are going to have an event with him in about three weeks here at the bookshop. It is a marvelous book. You know beautifully rendered, beautifully written. It is a comingofage narrative and nobody would know about this book but for the fact that we are going to do an event here at the store. That we will be featuring it and this is the job that we have is booksellers which was to introduce new authors to people. And to make a selection so that customers coming into the store can bump into these. I didnt mean to take your time on this discussion. While mitchell brought over stacks of books and hell get through them one way or another. [laughter] i feel for the caller from sedona who says we have no bookstores here. Im glad you found out that they could access the library. At least that, because i think back over the last 35 years about how, with great gratitude about how important, how much a part of mileage books and books is. How much time i spend here, how much of my connection to a cultural world comes through this place. I am very fortunate, amazingly fortunate in that regard. I have a book, a new book out from which this has always, this is always a place to launch. And the people that come, to be able to make that oneonone connection and the theater, that doesnt happen on the internet. There is no way to recreate that. So thank you mitchell. Thank you very much. I would also have to say that although we are independent booksellers we do believe in the ecology of all bookselling. And the internet does have a place for that. As you the chain bookstores. Like i said libraries, there is this but i believe that you know, one should not overtake another. In other words, there is a role. A really and portal for independent booksellers you have. I also believe these others need to exist in order to Service People who are in places where there are not bookstores. So if your books and bookstores curated different at the airport yes they all are. We have all of these Different Stores in miami and some even we have a store in the Cayman Islands as well and they are all very different. We treat them all that they are in their own communities. The managers have the ability to bring whatever they want. We have staff selections and you can really feel like you are in Different Stores by going into the different books and books stores as well. They are not cookiecutter at all. By a show of hands of any of the people here attended a book taught by an author you had never heard of and he just wanted to see what it was about . Has anyone here, has anyone here been to books and books before to attend events regularly . There we go. There we go. And we will come back to the audience for another question after we hear from lauren in sellwood florida. Hi lauren, please go ahead. Hi. I have been doing the show very much and i wanted to ask Anna Menendez a question about her book and about the joke that she referenced. Since i have been on hold, i have been saddened. I have been saddened because the conversation has turned political. And you know, i am a conservative and i love books. And i live bookstores. And i dont understand why you would want to make people feel unwelcome in a bookstore or in your bookstore. Im sorry if i have put a damper on that but i cannot help it. It really bothers me. Lauren, thank you for calling in. Ana menendez, first of all she wanted the joke but then, if you would all adjust the issue that she raised. That she felt unwelcome. I think mitchell made the point that this is a safe space for everybody. And i think that is certainly true. And i have a lot of conservative friends and conservative family who love the bookstore and i see them here. And they feel welcomed here. So i do not think that is an issue. Outside of the Facebook Page. It turned political only because weve been talking personally. But in terms of the bookstore, we present authors of all different types at this bookstore. And we even have some very conservative people working in the bookstore. We honor everyone who comes in. We were just talking personally and if we offended you, i am terribly sorry about that. So is sellwood close to miami . So if lauren comes down to the store i would love to have a cup of coffee with her. Call me up we will have coffee. The joke, to go back to politics briefly, a lot of my deduction i was a registered republican. Not a lot of people know this. I was first registered as a republican and my first vote was for george bush junior. Obviously a lot has changed but a lot of my misgivings about the new administration goes back to things that i heard my parents say in things that ive learned about. About a hemorrhaging takes over and how freedom of expression begins to be curtailed. And so i misgivings are actually rooted in my own history and in my parents history. So i will say that we do not have to agree on that but that is my, that is where im coming to my politics. But now a joke. It is a very old joke and i told it once to a group of. This was when i was in india. I told her to a group of people in india and they laughed uproariously. And then they said that they had the same joke. This is a little dog, and little mutt comes up the boat from cuba. He is Walking Around the streets of miami and enjoying the view and a french poodle walks by and because he is a cuban dog, he has to start complementing and say, oh you are so beautiful and are you from around here . I love the way you want. And she looks down her snout at him and says do you have any idea who you are talking to quake you are a mutt and i am a french poodle. I am a breed of distinction. And so the little mutt sort of is temporarily speechless. And then he says oh well, here i may be a mutt but in cuba i was a German Shepherd. [laughter] Les Standiford what have you heard from this discussion . As a writer i think you have two, when think what is said most eloquently you have to be capable of holding two diametrically opposed concepts in your mind at the same time and then when you sit down to write you have to be able to write characters who might be opposed in the same way diametrically. No matter what you believe in order to write compelling fiction or a worthwhile story for that matter. I would not have enjoyed spending very much time. I think with either Andrew Carnegie or henry clay. But if i were able to inhabit each characters persona at the time i was writing about their part of the book, nobody would have been able to, i think read that book or have founded anything but propaganda. And no matter what, all of this, i have tried and done my best to become that person to get in the head of the person that i can barely fathom as they are delivering the state of the Union Address that say. It would behoove me as an artist to try. I am an artist. Im not a politician and im not a businessman. And thats what i have to do in order to write good fiction. Obviously when i write the fiction or vibrate nonfiction narrative, my politics are going to come through. My empathys are going to come through. But im always trying to do justice for the other side. I have to. I shouldnt be doing this otherwise. Can i say one last thing . And how does like to say that i think one of the things she addressed was about this program tonight. And i have to say that im a veteran watcher booktv and watch what you do. And i think in booktv that is in seemingly fair in terms of presenting all different sides of what is being published. And i think publishing itself, publishes from every different point of view. There is a point of view that i think is left out. In publishing. I think that the service that you provide through booktv is something that is enough existentially for our own industry to survive. And i want to thank you and i hope that we have not brought it down a notch in this listeners or watchers i. I just want to say that the request know if lauren and sellwood is watched booktv in the past, pardon me, we have covered. [audio lost]. We are having technical trouble with the program youre watching and we apologize for the interruption. We hope to return to the program shortly. Where having technical trouble with the program youre watching we apologized and i correcting the problem. We hope to return to the program shortly. Here is a look at some events we are covering this week. Wednesday we will be at Columbia University in new york city where david phillips, the former advisor to clinton bush and obama will critique the us relationship with turkey. Also that evening we will be at watermark books in wichita kansas. Where will provide a history of one of the most violent towns in the west. Thursday booktv will be at the center for American Progress in washington d. C. Her senior fellow work to share will provide his perspective on the current Progressive Political agenda. Saturday in california at the Ronald Reagan president ial library museum. President reagans former executive assistants, peggy grundy will remember the late president s final years. Also next weekend will be Live Saturday and sunday from the university of arizona for the two fun festival of books. You will hear from and have the chance to talk with authors such as 2016 National Book award winner eva mackenzie. New york times columnist maureen dowd. Nation magazine correspondent john nichols and many more. That is a look at some of the programs booktv will be covering this week. Many of these events are open to the public. You can look for the chair in the near future on booktv on cspan2. The last time i gave a talk like this was to my daughters prek class. Of three euros and fouryearolds. It was about what a constitutional law professor does. And like a good law professor, i made up some i had one of the is countable, i made one of the Supreme Court and one of the white house. And after about five minutes, the for questions and my first question was why are you wearing a whale in your shirt . So i hope [laughter] i hope i can do a better job of eliciting questions from you about my book. Then why there is not a whale on my shirt at this time. So the argument im going to make today and lives in realism was really founded liberalism was founded as a movement. But first want to give you background about the book. He got the idea for the book when i was living at 1920 s street northwest. Would you go about two blocks from the house of truth. It still stands at 1727 19th street northwest. That is between s and corcoran street. I was reading the bibliographical notes by a great historian. His biography about wendell holmes. He said not much had been written about holmes and his friends. A lightbulb went off and i said i can finish this book in two or three years. With a little bit of research and here we are, six, almost 7 years later and i am finally done. It was a bigger undertaking than i thought it was. You know i wrote an article 1st and really when i knew i had a book was when i discovered the papers of the men who on the house. He was tasked commissioner of affairs. A guy that probably no one has ever heard of named robert valentine. He was the one who started this salon by inviting denison, the Justice Department attorney and felix to live in a house. You can watch this and other programs online at booktv. Org. Here is a look at some authors recently featured on booktv afterwards. Our weekly interview program. The parents of Trayvon Martin talk about his death and their experience with the judicial system. Roger stone wade and on Donald Trumps 2016 president ial win. And the spokesperson for the United Nations refugees reported on a searing womens attempt to flee our country. In the coming weeks on after words, council on Foreign Relations president richard will talk about the calendar spacing the policy. And we will also discuss how our bodies react to that. Lisa reports on the american credit and bank system and how how it affects the nation. And calling for unified america. America is a great country but we are a little confused about who we are and what we want right now. I think thats what we are wrestling with michael so this unity piece, we have to break this down because the problem that you saw in the last election without half the country literally goes one way and another half of the country fills another. The people who live in rural america, workingclass bluecollar people who have been hit very hard over the last couple decades of poverty and loss of jobs overseas, that is largely White America of a certain class. And then you have urban america which lives a whole different experience of unemployment and crime and donald trump has talked about the murder rate. Im talking, the first thing we have to do is that we have different experiences. And that is because we dont talk about that. The unity comes and that we love our country. Not that we agree with each other. Not that we experience after words airs on booktv on the weekend. You can watch previous after words programs on our website booktv. Org. This is one of the newspaper pages that i looked through early on in my project. And this is another one of those jump for joy moments we actually find what youre looking for in the archives and of course, this is an announcement, a marriage announcement. Mr. John and miss judge. Her name is incorrectly spelled so it took me a while to find her. So what i saw was a couple of things. This was january 1977. She has not been gone but seven months or eight months. And in that time, she is able to find a husband. And not only did she find a husband, but she did not go by an alias. When she reported, got married and had to report in the papers about this marriage. Now, this is also first dollars that i happy about digitization just to see this image is important, right . This is sort of an act of her life or resistance may be. But if you pull out the whole page of the newspaper, of course i dont have the slide here but on the front page of this newspaper, was George Washingtons announcement to the people of New Hampshire thanking them for being good citizens as he prepared to depart. And whats hilarious to me that we have George Washington making this statement to the great people of New Hampshire and in the column next to it is this radio that ran away. So looking at the entire document gives you a better sense for the kind of resistance we see coming from judge. Whether she knew it, met whether she meant to be a menacing person we do not know. She would make her way to freedom or relative freedom. She would live out her days in and around greenland New Hampshire. And she evaded washingtons slave catching acquaintances. For the entirety of her life. She managed to build a family for himself. She married, she had children and she worked as a domestic. To the end of her days. Although she endured the poverty and fugitive status until her death, judge moved forward. Her life was a difficult one. But freedom was worth it. You can watch this and other programs online at booktv. Org. Booktv live program from books and books bookstore in miami continues with our guests Mitchell Kaplan, the owner of the bookstore and founder. Ana menendez, author and former journalist and Les Standiford, author and director of the mfa program at Florida International university. You have been listening to our conversation and if you would like to participate via phone you can dial in these numbers. 2027488200 and for those in you and eastern time zones you can reach us at 207488201. We also have an audience for the discussion books and reading any young lady with a question in the back. Tell us your first name. Thank you for being here. This is fantastic. Unfiltered politics, unfiltered everything. The only thing that you need is scotus. We need scotus televised. Thats all i want to say if you can try. Let us know what we can do. I will say, we do not offer many opinions at cspan but we agree with you 100 percent. [laughter] Mitchell Kaplan, i asked you this earlier and hope you answer this. In this room at books and books, is this what your living room looks like at home . [laughter] a little bit. To my wifes chagrin. But i was telling you earlier that in the 35 years i do not think of myself as a book collector. But i am a book accumulator. And i have accumulated lots of books. You know, being a bookstore owner is a terrible tease. Because they are somebody wonderful books that have come out every single year. And there is no possibility that i can Read Everything that i want to be. I feel like im on that lucy arnaz thing where there is nothing that goes by and the Chocolate Factory and you start grabbing everything. That is kind of what i do. I grab everything i might want to read and it is backed up in my house. And also i was just sort of browsing what i had and i picked up. Im a basketball fan and i pick up something on the dunbar basketball team. Was people probably dont know is the greatest High School Basketball team ever. It had five players that went on to the nba. Including muzzy and others. And i just happened to pick it up and read it and it was fantastic. So that is kind of the way that this scattered approach to accumulating books is what goes on with me. For your parents readers . I grew up in my room. I will not forget, you made member the old quickbooks series. My parents had it almost like an encyclopedia. Had every one of the great books. And they left it in my room as a middle school kid and i remember picking up Robinson Caruso and all the other things. This really did come from them i believe. Ana menendez, did you grow up reading . Yes. And we grew up reading lots and lots of books. When we went to the mall, the first place would go to daltons. Then also went to libraries in the night ended up in other places. But that said, i remember i Read Everything. I read all the time. In the trees you know and in my room and i read, one of the books that had a lasting impression on me was robert cormiers i am the cheese. He is best known for the chocolate war. But the book that really affected me was i am the cheese. And it is a strange bucket alternated with a psychological questionnaire and then it is this kid whose parents have suffered some horrible events. And its a big mystery. And when i finished reading the book, i was a basket case. I guess it was, i was maybe seven years older eight years old. And i just cried. For hours and days. And i was in bad shape. The mother who was a leader. She said if you keep this up, this is going to be your reaction to books that we will have to stop all of this reading. [laughter] so luckily it did not come to that. But you know, books always did have that very strong effect on me. Les standiford . I taught myself to read before i got to kindergarten because my mother read to me all the time. I love being read to. And i finally figured out, i would get her to repeat sentences and i would say that with that word means . So had this great advantage. By the time i got to kindergarten i could read the titles of the books and when the teacher would come to reading our, i could always say why dont we and i would give the title or ask about one and the teacher would say, she never really asked me are you reading . I always got to pick sneakily because of that. And my grandmother would never have gone to high school, was a great read herself. She had all of these books on her shelves. Beautiful books, tom swift, i can still see the covers of these things. Beautifully illustrated cloth covers. And i would read and step to 2 oclock at night reading these things. With flashlights long after i was supposed to. And then every book and through reading to me was i going to the magic show. And that is what, i was like a kid who wanted to be a magician. He went to the magic show and wanted to do the thing that he leapt so much. So thats why im sitting here right now, sitting in my grandmothers parlor reading those old books. Mitchell kaplan. Obviously you cannot be in this business without thinking about it. And i immediately make that go away as fast as it possibly can. Because i think in college i thought maybe i would write. And then i realized i did not have neither the patients or probably the talent to do it. But i respect writers so much. Then i would have Writers Block immediately by sat down to try and write. But there are lots of interesting stories to tell over the 35 years. I feel like the luckiest guy in the world being a bookseller. And i have been able to meet you know the heroes that i grew up finding, the people that i found is heroes growing up. One story i would tell it does not happen anymore, but when i was a kid in Elementary School you know the Safety Patrol that most Elementary Schools have . My Elementary School had something called a library patrol. We got little buttons and we will go to the library. And we would help the librarian out and we would talk about books that we read and one of the book ribs i think that i had ever been a part of. In fact it was in that library were discovered that john f. Kennedy had gotten shot. The librarian came in and told us that that had happened. So i always had this connection that way. And i think it is something that more and more schools are to do early on to make that connection between relevance reading and the book and some particular way. And professor Les Standiford. Any advice to that reader who does not know where to get started . You have to read and to copy the book that you love the most. Good writers borrowed great writers. No one will notice if youre copying shakespeare, trust me. But, so how do you think writers figured it out before there were creative writing classes . They read other writers and said, am going to emulate. Im going to try and do what he or she did only a little bit different. And that i think, if you are in sedona and there is no bookstore and no creative writing classes, that is what to do. Take the book that you love and essentially tell your version of it. Ana menendez. Im thinking about this. A great cuban poet ruth behar, ruth was telling me when people come to her and say what do i need to do to be a writer . To write poetry she would say read more and write less. [laughter] basically. And i know, i set up this Creative Writing Program at the university which is wonderful. And i miss them all tremendously. And one of the first things i did, the first. They just read. Not even really writing. They start taking notes and doing things on their own. But i am not reading the creative output. I just have them read. I think that is the best advice. I mean that is how a lot of us. Inspired from reading and just learning to do it. Rita, youve been so patient thank you please go ahead with your question. Thank you. Cspan is just the most wonderful thing. The book weekend, i love it. Thank you. I called and with an innocent question about, and did not hear you talk about the topic but since then i would like you to answer, i have two more things i would like to comment on. One is, i do agree with lauren. I think we need to give this new president a chance. And she is just, what he is now is just the butt of a joke. And i just think that this is sort of like, he is like a substitute teacher and he goes into the classroom and all of the children are going, while thats not the way the other teacher you know our regular teacher does it. So we need to give them a chance. The country is in a lot of big problems and we do not have, i think it is really unhealthy the path youre going dont know. Linda . I do know what conservatives i can relate to what they feel like. What they are afraid to say out loud. What they think in this country now. It is really, d . Linda thank you for your point. I see Mitchell Kaplan. I am curious as to what linda is reading. That would be a really interesting thing. We would like to know what books you bought recently. I wanted to give mitchell a compliment. I am looking at the t. V. Screen and seeing these beautiful books. Click. We are all. I wanted to give mitchell a compliment. I am sitting looking at the background and it looks like the most beautiful bookstore. These tall wonderful, i mean theres Nothing Better than tall shelves with books in them. And it just looks like the most beautiful. I am in california so i dont think ill ever, i dont go to florida. But oh my gosh, it is gorgeous mitchell. Linda we have a lot of people on the line we are going to have to let you go. Im afraid we will not find out what she is reading. Davids new book is coming on april called the american spirit. Right there is some information for you. Bill oreilly. And coulter, some conservative authors but often on the bestseller list. Do they sell here in south florida . They do. We had a book signing with and coulter. She came in and sign books we had a big line going out the door. So there are markets for all of those people. And bill oreilly i think is one of the biggest selling authors around these days. With all of his series. And you know, it goes, it is a big country. There are a lot of books being published. There is a lot of interest that different people have. And theres no reason why, there is no reason why it cannot be big enough for everyone to be able to read something that they like. Megyn kelly is another book that is recently published. And did she come here for a book signing . She did not come to miami. But i would like to see more conservative authors coming to miami. They do not come as much to miami because they do not see miami as conservative as maybe a little further up the state. So, but over the years we have had just about every conservative thinker you can imagine come through. So new books that are coming out by politicians. Basically just want to know if these are important books, if these are books that you will read. Elizabeth warren has a book, george w. Bush come out with a book on veterans. Chelsea clintons book just came out on global healthcare. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse on the environment, al franken is writing a book as well. And governor john kasich. Are those important books . Would you pick those up . And do they sell . Well, you know this is about every book. To be honest it is ultimately about the writing. It is ultimately about the book. It is really not about you know, the genre or about you know, is it someones position paper. It is how the story is told that makes a book sell or not sell. That is different than whether or not there is an autograph in going on. So if someone doesnt autographing you want to meet the person more or less handled by the book in order to meet them. But whether or not someone would pick of john kasichs book, which is a position of some sort. I do not know. Barack obamas book sold because they were well written. There were accounts of a persons life. George bushs first book that he wrote. Turning point . That sold really well because it was the account of how he viewed his presidency. The same with bill clintons first book. So those are the times, it is an important book and people will buy. Summary people get caught up in the genre. Know what trend you know what are people buying way you know it is really about the book. It does not matter what genre it really is. Do we have another question here in the audience . Be point for the mike and we will take this call from jerry in hialeah down in south florida. Jerry, you are in booktv. Go ahead. Good evening. I would like to ask a question to each of your Panel Members may be hypothetical. If you were each given a manuscript of books and you are not familiar in any way with the material, and you are not told who the author was, could you tell if that book was written by a male or female . Why do you ask that question jerry . I wonder if there such a thing as a male or female style. If there was at one time or if there still is now. Les standiford. No, no way. Number i mean statistically speaking, you might say, i used to be a mystery writer. And people used to say that there were no feminine mystery writers. I only like to read the hardboiled stuff and you know, no women do but i dont think that is true anymore. Particularly since, as the word has gone out about and you know, as the world has gotten smaller. I dont know. I do not think there is any such thing. Im going to see the books you listed a moment ago, do i think they are important to yes but i am a storyteller. The nonfiction i wrote, it has to have a story with a beginning, middle and end. It is not about the subject matter is there a story that you have not heard before . You know someone might say this is a great narrative of how he came to all of his opinions. How he started off and became a conservative from a liberal. I might read that book. How did that happen . But i just want to read stories. And so, politics ana menendez . To answer the question i think no. I mean you can make assumptions and in some cases you might be right. And in some cases you would be wrong. Im thinking of an unnecessary woman. Reminds me of the author. I cant remember her name. I forget the authors name. It is from the point of view of a woman. You make of this manuscript and they will obviously woman wrote this. And you would be wrong. There are many many books and this is the first one that jumps out at me right now because it is the most recent one i read but there are many books that you can make assumptions about and be wrong. One of the things you can do to support your bookstores when you travel quite for work go visit bookstores. This is my second visit to and for those who try to find their voice as a writer had used that want to take this chance and try to get my story out there what. Do that in 10 seconds. My fourth grade teacher said very good you keep at it. Wasnt planning to publish but just for the pleasure