Results tagged “pagesbooksandmagazines”

It isn't every day that you go to a wake for a bookstore.

WORDS: On August 31, owner Marc Glassman closed Pages Books and Magazines' doors for good, ending its thirty years in business on Queen Street West. Tonight, "Afterword: A Celebration of 30 Years" will bring together many of the Canadian icons who both graced the shelves and roamed the aisles of Pages. The list of guests include Matthew Blackett, Rob Bowman, Eldon Garnet, and many more. Monkey Toast will create improvised comedy based on some of the stories shared. "Afterword" is a This Is Not A Reading Series (TINARS) event. Gladstone Hotel, Ballroom (1214 Queen Street West), 7:30 p.m. (doors at 7 p.m.), FREE.

       

After thirty years, one of Toronto's most legendary independent bookstores will close its doors for good in only a few more hours. At Pages Books and Magazines, customers are scouring the almost bare shelves looking for an excuse to make one more purchase.

The end of an era. It's a cliché, an easy writer's trick whose use far exceeds its real application. We stand by it in this case, however. After thirty years curating the indie set's reading list and nurturing Toronto's newest and freshest literary voices, Pages Books and Magazines will be shutting its doors for good in August. As reported in this week's issue of NOW, and confirmed privately to Torontoist, in the end there simply wasn't a choice. Rent is growing faster than sales, and for all that Pages is deeply loved (the Save Pages Books! Facebook group has upwards of 2,300 members), the cash crunch got to be too much.

After months of worrying that their time on Queen Street West would soon be up, Pages Books and Magazines has been granted a six-month extension on their lease by owners Pinedale Properties, to August of 2009. The store announced the change early this morning in a press release, in which proprietor Marc Glassman cited "grassroots initiatives such as the 'Save Pages Books!' facebook group as well as support on the part of City Hall." ("Adam Vaughan's terrific team," in particular, gets a nod.) According to Glassman, "We'll continue to work with Pinedale in hopes of securing a longer lease....[but] realistically, Pages will be looking for other locations as well."

Every Tuesday afternoon, Torontoist rounds up the city's literary news, including book deals, events, local sales, author happenings, and insider information from the book industry.

WORDS: Chris Carlsson, one of the founders of Critical Mass and the author of 2008's Nowtopia, is speaking this evening at CineCycle as part of Pages' This Is Not A Reading Series. He'll be discussing Nowtopia, which researches social challenges faced by outlaw bicyclists and others looking to get away from urban consumer lifestyles. Spacing's publisher and creative director Matthew Blackett will be interviewing Carlsson, and there will be an audience Q&A following the interview. CineCycle (in the alley behind 129 Spadina Avenue), 7:30 p.m., FREE.

MUSIC: David Berman and the rest of his Silver Jews are stopping by Lee's Palace tonight as part of their North American tour. They're joined by Boston rock group Hallelujah The Hills. Lee's Palace (529 Bloor Street West), 9 p.m., $15.