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Brad Johnson

@ahablives.bsky.social

1K followers 170 following 3.5K posts

A part of the Twitter Diaspora. Also run East Bay Booksellers in Oakland, CA - @ebbooksellers.bsky.social

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Brad Johnson @ahablives.bsky.social · 3h

Book-shaped object

Brad Johnson @ahablives.bsky.social · 3h

Did Steph Curry even try to promote his $50 book? ‘Cause mine are gathering dust.

Brad Johnson @ahablives.bsky.social · 4h

I don't think Bill Burr understands that his angry guy schtick works only to the extent that the audience can identify with it.

Brad Johnson @ahablives.bsky.social · 16h

Go on & have yourself a huge launch day, Thomas Pynchon! Even Ingram is out now.

Brad Johnson @ahablives.bsky.social · 1d

I just ordered a stack of Mark’s book to give away at the store.

ebbooksellers.com/item/9JsuMsJ...

Would be a shame if others did the same and landed it at least on regional bestseller lists.

Brad Johnson @ahablives.bsky.social · 1d

Of course, it’s not just the book business that can’t sort out sustainable models that aren’t complete consolidation. & none of it is leading anywhere especially good.

Brad Johnson @ahablives.bsky.social · 1d

I've said it before on Twitter, and will say it here: we possibly need as many nerds obsessed w/ the logistical ins and outs of sustainable book distribution as we do nerds obsessed with publishing them.

Brad Johnson @ahablives.bsky.social · 1d

Every photo of Bari Weiss that I see looks like she’s farting.

Brad Johnson @ahablives.bsky.social · 1d

I'm thinking about writing a very boring, somewhat embarassing book. Which is to say, I'm not writing it.

Brad Johnson @ahablives.bsky.social · 1d

Famously, many chose irony -- equally famous for being flimsy. & others actually poured themselves into alternative forms. Some proved more toxic; others a tonic.

That doing so never scaled with the various necessity of age or couldn't resist consolidation is an enduring problem.

Brad Johnson @ahablives.bsky.social · 1d

My generation has a lot of sins to answer for, but I don't think it was especially wrong to try & shield itself from a corporate media designed to make you meaner and/or dumber.

Reposted by Brad Johnson

East Bay Booksellers @ebbooksellers.bsky.social · 1d

This is of niche industry interest, but here goes:

The digital catalog platform most independent bookstores use to peruse and order new books for their stores (called Edelweiss) has jacked up their prices on publishers to catalog new titles 200-300%.

Why does this matter?

Brad Johnson @ahablives.bsky.social · 4d

I like a good number of the books reflecting on “deep time” that have come out in recent years, but I have to believe their relative popularity owes much to despair about “right now time.”

Brad Johnson @ahablives.bsky.social · 4d

It’s very cool. We have one of their prints up at the store.

Brad Johnson @ahablives.bsky.social · 4d

A young(er than me) shopper said quietly to a friend, "It's like an art store in here!" ... and I've never been so happy.

Brad Johnson @ahablives.bsky.social · 5d

This seems like child abuse.

www.theguardian.com/technology/n...

‘My son genuinely believed it was real’: Parents are letting little kids play with AI. Are they wrong?

Some believe AI can spark their child’s imagination through personalized stories and generative images. Scientists are wary of its effect on creativity

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Brad Johnson

Lauren 🎃'Neal @laurenoneal.bsky.social · 6d

Converting to Catholicism as an adult is the most evangelical thing you can do.

David M. Perry @lollardfish.bsky.social · 6d

amazing watching tradcath converts discover they are protestants.

Brad Johnson @ahablives.bsky.social · 7d

We had a photoshoot at the store this morning. Happily, I was upstaged by a baby.

Brad Johnson @ahablives.bsky.social · 7d

I'm somewhat obsessed right now with books about "the dirty history of photography." Oh, look, there's a book titled precisely that!

ebbooksellers.com/item/9ZxRdsP...

A Dirty History of Photography by Michelle Henning | East Bay Booksellers

An environmental history of chemical photography through the lens of its deep connections to empire and industry. Dependent on the extractive practices of fossil-fueled industrial capitalism, chemic...

ebbooksellers.com

Brad Johnson @ahablives.bsky.social · 7d

This turned out very nice indeed.

editorialrm.com/en/producto/...

Tenochtitlan - Editorial RM

Texts: Alvaro Enrigue Design: Estudio Herrera Binding: Paperback Pages: 121 Images: 80 Dimensions: 16 x 23 cm / 6.25 x 9 in Language: Bilingual edition (English/Spanish) Publication Year: 2025

editorialrm.com

Brad Johnson @ahablives.bsky.social · 8d

The idea of de-politicized poetry is as nonsensical as a de-politicized body.

Brad Johnson @ahablives.bsky.social · 8d

Brad Johnson @ahablives.bsky.social · 8d

I also think either Mason & Dixon or Against the Day (my preference) would work better as a movie (or tv series) than Gravity’s Rainbow.

Brad Johnson @ahablives.bsky.social · 8d

I’m looking forward to people’s reaction to the (very different) book when PRH manages to finish its reprint.

Brad Johnson @ahablives.bsky.social · 8d

This Western boy is forever Midwestern.