Davida Kristy was pissed.

She wasn’t buying my generally positive take on Barnes & Noble two weeks ago. I acknowledged the sad fact that B&N and other “big boxes” wiped out many independent bookstores, but that wasn’t enough for Davida. She was an investor — and fairly active participant — in a children’s bookstore in the San Fernando Valley. She watched over 20 years as the store struggled and, finally, died.

Predatory pricing and predatory purchasing killed that store, Davida says. The big boxes can buy books cheaper and sell them cheaper because they have huge volume, and they care only for the bottom line. They have no mercy, says Davida; they have no soul.

Now comes Ann Dorough, manager of the B&N in Rockville MD and my fellow member of the Friends of the Montgomery County Library board. Does B&N have a soul? Here’s Ann’s take.

“Whenever I feel tuckered out by work I try to remember my favorite B&N story, which you can feel free to pass along:

“Dow Mossman is an Iowa writer who essentially has a breakdown after publishing his 1972 masterpiece, ‘The Stones of Summer,’ an American coming-of-age novel (and no, not a cliche) that is richly expressed, hilarious, strange, and utterly obscure.

“Dow drops out of sight, becomes a welder, writes only poetry, despises publishers.

“Decades later, documentary filmmaker Mark Moskowitz, who had stashed Dow’s book away when it was first released, finally reads it and becomes obsessed with understanding why Dow never wrote again. He doggedly tracks down Dow and produces an award-winning documentary of his quest, entitled ‘Stone Reader.’

“Moskowitz knows Steve Riggio, CEO of B&N. Shows Riggio the documentary. Riggio falls in love with the book, is shocked it’s out of print, and he resurrects it by having Barnes & Noble Books republish it in 2003 and promote the living heck out of it for a YEAR.

“I hand-sold as many as I could after starting to read it (and boy, is it long, but worth it). I met Dow when we did his event at the Bethesda (MD) store a few years ago. Though he’s practically a hermit and HATES author events, he told me he did it solely in appreciation of Riggio resurrecting his book. The book is re-dedicated to Moskowitz and Riggio.

“Sometimes, the rich and powerful use their power and riches wisely. And that makes me happy.”

I’m not taking sides here. Independent bookstores keep folding; every week there’s news of more demises, and there’s little doubt that big-box competition is the main reason. It’s a sad situation. But in my experience, one big box is NOT like another. Maybe Ann’s story suggests why.

Frank Joseph
www.tolovemercy.com

P.S. NEW GIG! WVON, AM 1690 Chicago, the Cliff Kelley show, some time Friday afternoon. We’re still trying to firm up the time. It will be after 3:30 p.m. WVON came on air as “Voice Of the Negro” while I was in high school. It was started by the Chess brothers (Chess and Checker records) and has an illustrious history. Can’t wait for this one!

And …

· Thursday, Oct. 5, 7 p.m. Roden branch, Chicago Public Library, 6083 N. Northwest Hwy., Chicago

· Friday, Oct. 6, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., Rich East High School, Sauk Trail & Shabonna Drive, Park Forest IL

· Saturday, Oct. 7, 2 p.m., Barnes & Noble, 47 E. Chicago Ave., Naperville IL

· Sunday, Oct. 8, 1 p.m., Barnes & Noble, 13 W. Rand Rd., Arlington Heights IL

· Monday, Oct. 9, 9 a.m.-2:30 p.m., Naperville Central High School, next to the Naper Settlement, Naperville IL

· Tuesday, Oct. 10, 6:30 p.m., Read Between the Lynes, 129 Van Buren, Woodstock IL

PLUS … at 12:45 Pacific time on Tuesday, Oct. 10, tune in KRML, 1410 AM, in heavenly Carmel CA, and listen to my high school buddy Bill Roth’s radio show. If you do, you’ll hear me reading that Starbucks piece from a few weeks ago.