Process
Status Items Output None Questions None Claims None Highlights Done See section below
Highlights
id760457481
The reader-in-residence doesn’t have to write an essay. They don’t have to host a book club or moderate a panel discussion. They don’t have to contribute to a blog or create sponsored content. They don’t have to doanything, except show up to the bookstore a couple of times per week and read.
id760457491
“I think the residence paralleled my own personal concerns about the extent to which we focus ourselves on production,” said Joe Braun, principal book buyer at Perelandra, and the person who dreamed up the position. “In focusing on production, foregrounding content creation, what we do is necessarily create a consumer in the process. The idea is: produce, consume, produce, consume.”
id760457499
The point is to envision what a bookshop can do, not what it already is
id760457504
there was that constant drive to show that you understand. To make something of your understanding. I’m like, you know what, we kind of just need understanding. We don’t always need proof of it,
id760457506
The reader gets a small stipend for their three-month stint — 50 per month for coffee. They also have access to Perelandra’s wholesale book catalog. The overt goal of the residency is to foster a space for people to experience literature more thoughtfully. The underlying goal is to make them want to smash their phones with a sledgehammer.
id760457797
The reader position is akin to a listener. I’m just taking it in, I’m not supposed to do anything except keep my mouth shut and my mind open,”