I was sad to learn via Boing Boing today that, after limping along for the past three years, Cody’s Bookstore has finally closed forever. Gone is the great, original store on Telegraph Avenue; gone is the trendy satellite store on Fourth Street; gone is the misbegotten San Francisco store; gone is the last-ditch, hanging-on-by-our-fingernails store in downtown Berkeley, which I never got a chance to visit anyway.

Bookselling has changed so much in the 25 years since I moved to Berkeley. But I’m still convinced that, had Cody’s stuck with its original space and not extended itself ever westward and beyond its capabilities, it would still be in business. I spent many hours there, especially in the days before I had kids. It was a great space for browsing and meeting authors.

I don’t buy a lot of books anymore, but when I do, I try to purchase them at independent bookstores like Cody’s. Now there’s one fewer choice. And that’s really a shame.

Tags: book stores; Berkeley

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