Swift(ly) Moving Controversy

The controversy over the unavailability of the bestselling Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry, by John O'Neill and Jerome R. Corsi (Regnery), has placed booksellers squarely in the middle of a political maelstrom.

With callers to, and hosts of, some conservative talk radio shows positing allegations that the "liberal-biased book industry" is refusing to sell the Kerry-bashing book in some "vast left-wing conspiracy," a number of booksellers report that they have been inundated with customers seeking an explanation about why they don't carry the contentious tome -- with some even threatening to boycott their stores. On the other hand, some booksellers wondered whether or not this whole controversy was simply a publicity stunt to sell books.

Theories of a vast left-wing conspiracy among booksellers to not sell the book were proven unfounded, however, as Unfit for Command debuted at number 15 on the Book Sense Hardcover Nonfiction Bestseller List this week and is at the top of a number of other lists. In addition, in an August 25 press release, Regnery CEO Jeff Carneal said, "Despite what some customers may believe, it isn't the stores' fault that supplies [of Unfit for Command] are scarce…. The book's record-setting demand just couldn't have been anticipated by the stores or by us."

The publisher also noted that the book is now in its 10th printing with more than 650,000 copies in print or on order, and 325,000 books shipped to the trade so far. The balance of the books are expected to ship within the next five to seven days.

Since the book's August 15 release, independent booksellers contacted by BTW were all embroiled in some way or another by the Unfit for Command firestorm -- with heated complaints from either conservative or liberal customers.

Nancy Beattie of The Bookstore Plus, in Lake Placid, New York, told BTW, "There's been a great demand for the book. There is a lot of frustration that it is not available. This is a very conservative area, and with all the Bush-bashing books, we've taken criticism for having those." She noted that Lake Placid brings in many tourists who "think we're very liberal, but I've never voted anything but … Republican my whole life!" As for customer criticism regarding the anti-Bush books, Beattie will not let her or her town's political leanings influence the titles she stocks and is a staunch advocate of free speech. "We carry both sides of the political spectrum," she said.

At Hastings Entertainment in Odessa, Texas -- just 20 miles from President George W. Bush's hometown -- one customer was angry enough that Unfit was not in stock that he called the local news station. "Apparently, the customer got it into his head that we were not carrying the book [because the store had a liberal bias]," said Hastings' Randy Ham. However, the store did carry the book -- it had just sold out. "We don't not carry books [due to political beliefs], especially hot sellers."

It's not just right-wing customers complaining about the book, some left-leaning customers aren't happy with the potential availability of Unfit for Command. Nicki Leone of Bristol Books in Wilmington, North Carolina, reported that one customer threatened to boycott the store if it stocked the title. "I guess it was a Democrat who didn't believe in free speech," she said with a laugh.

Leone reported that anyone who has inquired about the book "has been very heated in their opinion." Initially, she did not plan to stock the book, but now she has a couple on order. "With political books, you tread a fine line trying to be fair and balanced; right now, [the store] leans heavily to the left.... [But] we'll have some of the new Ann Coulter, and we carry both Bill O'Reilly and Michael Moore."

In San Francisco, Gary Frank of The Booksmith said that there's been hostility from right-wing customers seeking the book. His store is in a very liberal community, he explained, and "we sell very little right-wing books." However, "if there is legitimate interest, we want to supply it." Frank has Unfit for Command on order to stock in the store. "We're not going to make a statement on what customers can read, but we don't want shelves and shelves of books that don't sell."

"We have 10 copies on order," said Alzada Knickerbocker of The Avid Reader in Davis, California, who noted that her distributor said she should have her order by the end of next week.

While Knickerbocker is a conservative, Davis is a very liberal community. "We've received no threats [of boycotts], and I wouldn't respond. It goes back to Salman Rushdie…. You can't have a free society without free speech." She maintained that the store keeps a balanced perspective and makes sure to have "each side represented." --David Grogan

Following extensive publicity regarding Unfit for Command, a number of booksellers posted comments on the Southeast Booksellers Association list-serve. Below are two views regarding stores' decisions about this title.

You can look at this book from a moral perspective and think that you don't want to sell it because you disagree with someone who is bashing a member of our Senate who happens to be running for President. You could also look at many other titles, and make a moral decision to not sell those, because they are bashing our current President. What I don't think we can do, as booksellers, is tell a reader what they can read, or tell a publisher what they can publish.

Especially as an independent bookseller, we have to be willing to sell things that we don't necessarily agree with, to keep the free flow of information.

I'll be the first to admit, speaking as a wife of a member of our armed services, that there have been titles that make me cringe when ordering, and once read, give me a new perspective on an issue.

When it becomes possible for a chain or publisher to "squash" a book because they are either left or right, then there is a much more serious issue to address. As long as we don't try to censor our readers and follow our real moral obligation of providing all books to all people, I don't think that this can happen in our near future.

Each of us can make a business decision on a title such as Unfit for Command, and if you want to protest the title, it is 100 percent your decision.

I'm not selling this title, or any other, to make a buck off of it, but because as a bookseller, I want to be able to live up to the true meaning of an independent store. That is, to make a decision about a title independently, following the interests of my customers, providing all sides to each story and letting the customer make up their own mind, not making it up for them. I'm just here to get the information out, not to decide what people think. Isn't that the point of ABFFE and what we all stand for?

Susie Weaver
Broad Street Books
Portsmouth, Virginia

One person writing in this discussion used the word censorship to describe a bookseller's choice not to stock a book. I think we need to be careful when we use that word.

Malaprop's chooses not to stock Unfit for Command, but we will gladly special order it for anyone interested.

We do not view this as censoring the book. We make choices every day on what books we want to carry on our shelves. There are many reasons why we may choose one book and not another.

What we carry is a reflection of our tastes and the community we serve. We have limited shelf space. We obviously cannot stock every title that is printed, nor do we want to.

However, we special order almost anything, except the Anarchist's Cookbook, etc. so that a customer can read the books they are interested in.

I think when strong words get tossed about, like censorship, conspiracy, etc., we need to be careful how we use them. The ugliness that is emerging around this book, from people who are calling our store just to check if we planned to carry it, or coming in and being truly confrontational, has been very distressing for our booksellers.

People make choices about what they want to carry in their independently owned businesses, and I think we need to be more respectful of opposing views.

Linda Barrett Knopp
Malaprop's Bookstore/Cafe
Asheville, North Carolina