Local bookshops full of personality

By Sarah Beldo
Daily Arts Writer

BOHDAN DAMIAN CAP/Daily Recent LSA graduate Katerie Prior often returns to Ann Arbor to shop for books and enjoy the town. She is browsing an outdoor table in front of David's Books.

Where else but in Ann Arbor could five different bookstores within a three-block radius live together in domestic harmony? A bibliophile's wet dream, the State Street-Liberty Street area is home to two retail bookstores - Borders and Shaman Drum - and three used bookstores: Dawn Treader, David's Books and Books in General. And, as far as I can tell, they coexist happily.

How do they all get along? By offering distinct personalities and filling unique niches, you could visit all five bookstores in one day and not feel like you were seeing the same thing. In fact, I have decided that each bookstore can be likened to a different member of a big, wacky family. Accompany me in this brief genealogy and see if you agree.

It is only fitting that Borders, with its enormous girth and variety, should be both mother and father to Ann Arbor's bookstores. It is not a parent in any creative sense, but because it has such firm control on the local book market and yet is so eager to please.

Big Mama Borders has a little something for anyone: magazines, comic books, CDs, software, children's books, blank books, books on ABBA, books on Zoroastrianism. And oh yes, a coffee shop for weary browsers. Borders is a maternal haven, promising relief for the poor, the tired, the huddled masses, yearning to breathe free (or to read a good book, at least).

Although it must be stated that being poor will not help you in your quest to purchase books at Borders. Being owned by the corporate Man means Papa Borders plays by the rules. What you see on the price tag is the exorbitant amount you must pay. However, it is not unusual to see poor college students huddled in armchairs around the store, reading for free until the store closes, while employees look on impassively. Which means perhaps Borders does have a heart after all.

BOHDAN DAMIAN CAP/Daily Two shoppers browse the impressively extensive stacks at Borders. Borders sells books on everything from the occult to calculus.

Like your Ma and Pa, Borders is fairly traditional in its goods and how it presents them. If you want something more specialized, perhaps with more of an ethnic spin, you should pay a visit to your hip uncle, Shaman Drum. This is the bisexual uncle who listens to jazz, goes on men's movement retreats and feels everyone's pain. Shaman Drum leans to the left, to the artistic, to the literary. With kick-ass sections on Native American studies, poetry, and gender studies, among others, Shaman Drum offers a homey-yet-cool atmosphere and employees who never seem to have anything to do. Shaman Drum is never overbearing, kind of like your uncle who fixes you cappuccinos and lends you his copy of "Howl" but never hugs you. Always supportive of local writers, Shaman Drum sponsors several readings throughout the year by both renowned and lesser-known authors. Never faltering in taste, never anything less that diverse, speaking softly rather than shouting - that is Shaman Drum.

There is no denying the pleasure of a used bookstore. Let's begin with Dawn Treader, the fairy-tale grandpa of used bookstores. Dawn Treader wants you to sit on his knee, and he'll weave stories of fantastical happenings, of fairies, of ESP, of science fiction. The bookstore seems to focus on these areas, being one of those places where you find things you never knew existed. A bit absent-minded, Grandpa Dawn Treader sports books stacked in piles, in approximate alphabetical order, as well as shelves packed with more than 40,000 books. Enter Dawn Treader and time seems to take on another dimension as you find a new section - humor, travel, archaeology - around each corner. You will exit a few hours later, blurry-eyed and filled with stories.

Books in General is the fussy grandmotherly counterpoint to Dawn Treader. Books in General looks neat, smells good, and offers many fine things behind glass cases. The proprietor knows which volumes he has and hasn't got, and if he lacks any volume he will find it.

While Dawn Treader is for people who enjoy the journey more than the arrival, Books in General is for people who like to know exactly where they are and where they're going. It has a comparable number of interesting and odd things, but it presents them to you on a tasteful platter, politely and gratefully.

If you miss the haphazard spirit of your teenage brother, I suggest visiting David's Books. The employees listen to baseball and classic rock as they sit behind the desk, the floor is never quite clean and the selection tends more toward what would be called "a good read" than anything highbrow. David's Books has bestsellers, humor, cookbooks, military books and (uh-oh) even a stash of old Playboys roped off in the back. And you wondered what your brother meant when he said he was into "collectibles."

With all of these options, it's hard not to find what you're looking for. I was adopted by the Ann Arbor bookstore family long ago, and I never felt homesick again.

Actually, I haven't spoken to my real family in quite some time ... and if Shaman Drum ever starts sponsoring Thanksgiving dinner or Memorial Day picnics, man, I'm there.

09-03-97