From the Taipei Times today: Eslite’s 24-Hour Dunnan store likely to close, but no final decision is made yet. If it closes, they will find another new location for the 24 hours store. Any thoughts?
Overpriced physical book store that I don’t go to because it’s overpriced and full of people using it as a public library is going to change location, basically my only thoughts are that I don’t care.
With the advent of websites like https://www.bookdepository.com/ with reasonable prices and free fast shipping Eslite has become a relic. I do have memories of the bad old days paying way over the odds for rare English novels and trying to get through Eslites torturous ordering system.
I’m sure some local residents will miss their free airconded library though.
Not really news, IMO. Their lease is running out and probably will not renew, end of story.
legend has it that it’s a great place to “pickup chicks”…
…can’t say I had any luck
#lookingforloveinallthewrongplaces
Yeah, the girls there all have “standards”…and expensive habits.
1 Like
You want standards? Smoke Gets in my Eyes, key of D.
1 Like
Speaking of which, I wasn’t terribly impressed by their CD selection either. A guy can only take so much Matthew Lien.
“Excuse me, have you read Chaucer?”
No wonder you got shot down behind enemy lines.
I once stood next to Lien, in Eslite. The guy would literally grab girls and show them his CDs and then try and get their phone numbers. Class act.
2 Likes
Thanks for the tip on bookdepository.com; good to know. I checked out the website, it was worthwhile to check out; I didn’t know that writer Tom Wolfe passed away recently (RIP) and that a couple of readers rated George R.R. Martin’s “Fire and Blood” before it comes out in November 2018.
I think we lose a community space without physical bookstores. I once asked some friends why are there so many Starbucks shops everywhere. The coffee is expensive and not particularly good tasting (although people have different tastes). The answer they gave me was that it is a community space where people like to gather together.
Amazon.com is apparently getting back into the physical bookstores too–they opened a branch in New York city; although I haven’t visited it yet.
I think the eslite 24 hour store is something that makes Taipei and Taiwan unique. It’s kind of like a USP (Unique Selling Point).
Physical books store is kind of what I miss in the States, and although there are quite a lot here in Taiwan, more and more are closing down. (Perhaps it’s business Darwinism.) There is a book and social theory called “Bowling Alone” where people don’t really physically socialize anymore. There are couples and even families who don’t really talk to each other; but just sit next to each other with their smartphones…
2 Likes
They do have a vinyl selection now, though I don’t really know where else to get vinyl.
1 Like
Well, the wolf is his spirit animal, so you know…
1 Like
He’s married into an infamous politician’s family in Taiwan.
Hope he enjoys the lifestyle on the back of the poor people in Miaoli.
1 Like
It takes two to pick up. There was a survey 7 or 8 years or so ago that said it was the best meet up for single people.
Well, the Chaucer line never worked for me back in the day at Eslite. However, the ladies loved it when I talked about my Longfellow.
3 Likes
Are you calling me a strike-out king?
By Jove I’ll have my satisfaction sir. Pistols at dawn it is.