Ray Bradbury, venerable but clueless

bradbury acres of books

Ray Bradbury spoke at Long Beach’s doomed Acres of Books last night. He said nice, touching things about the bookstore and his fondness for it. Right on.

Then he said: “Right now there are no bookstores in downtown L.A. That’s terrible. That’s stupid, isn’t it?” Yeah, sure is. Except Metropolis Books IS in downtown LA, near 4th and main, and has a fantastic selection of literary fiction. It’s a new, wonderful independent bookstore and could use your support, Mr. Bradbury.

Then he said: “There’s no bookstore in Venice, California right now.” Bzzzz! Wrong again. There are TWO independent bookstores in Venice, California. Right now. Small World Books is easy to find — on the boardwalk — and has a well-known bookstore cat. In the retail district on Abbot Kinney, Equator Books features art books, specialty books (from skateboarding to bullfighting) and collectibles. Probably even some vintage Bradbury.

Mr. Bradbury, so many people listen to you, and you’re good at making stuff up. But when it comes to dissing neighborhood bookstores, please make sure you know what you’re talking about.

About the author

I like sitting in Jack Webb's booth.