Turn to a book

When the world around us feels a little discombobulated we turn to a book, we look to those who write to offer a shining light through foggy times, whether they offer escapism or education, books bring us comfort.

My partner is currently reading A Ride Across America by Simon Parker, attracted to the book having sat in on the authors appearance at Burford Lit Fest last September. He was reading the last few chapters in bed a few nights ago and I asked him to read to me. Thanks to the newly appointed Trump administation all my media is bombarded witth headlines 24 hours a day and I wanted to be reminded of a different USA.

Given the negative impact of Donald Trumps so called 'leadership' of one of the world's most impactful super powers it would be easy to assume all Americans are happy with his decisions, after all 85 million of them voted for him but as a bookshop owner in a tourist honeypot set at the gateway to the Cotswolds I am reassured every day that this is not the case. The USA citizens who choose to travel to Europe remind me everyday that they are concerned for their homeland. For those of you who do not have the benefit of meeting these educated and informed Americans I wanted to share this passage from A Ride Across America.

It was here that I met Joe Courter, Editor of the Gainesville Iguana, a left-leaning free newspaper that had been published in the city since 1986. Grey-bearded and bespectacled, Joe's cap read: "Abortion in Healthcare" The badge clipped to his brown woolled sweater read: "end the illeagal ocupation of Palestine". On the cover of his latest issue was a 1950's-style comic strip depicteding two women speaking on the phone and the words: "I hope some big strong men pass some laws about how we use our uteruses...said no women ever."

"Gainseville is one of the most progressive cities you will find," said Joe. "and that's by vitue of being a university town. We have always been around feminist issues, environmental issues and gay rights. We dson't have a specific agenda but we are pro-peace, pro-environment and pro-social justice."

Printing roughly 5000 copies, 8 times and year, the Gainseville Iguana uses mostly advocates and campaigners to write op-eds, rather than a team of reporters. They distribute to subscribers all over the country including prisoners - some of whom were on death row.

'This one guy wrote to me and said, "it comes into our cell block and one copy gets ready by 26 different people." Its amazing to think those people are also getting the information.'

Throughout my journey across the United States, I had been both fascinated and horrified by the news media. Polemical and one-sided it was common place to see news anchors ranting into the camera unchallenged. It was no wonder that so many people believed that the country was more divided than ever. A person could simply turn on a news channel and have all their ideas, biases and prejudices - right or left - reinforced.

"The most dreadful example of the deteriation in news was of Donald Trump in 2016", said Joe. "TV stations would keep their cameras on an empty mic for an hour, waiting for Trump to speak. He was good for ratings, good for the stations' bottom line, and that's what it comes down to."

One of the joy's of working in a bookshop, espcially in a transitional town such as Burford is the wonderful people you meet from across the world and indeed The Madhattter Bookshop would not be able to keep its doors open without our visitors from across the atlantic but if, like me, you are struggling with understanding the people that make up the population of the United States of America then I highly recommend A ride Across America by Simon Parker. Simon offers a clear and unbiased view as he cycles from Cape Flattery in Washington to Key West in Florida.

(A Ride Across America by Simon Parker is released in paperback in Junme this year and we will be stocking copies but you can pre-order a copy today.)