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QUICK LINKS
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Weller Book Works
607 Trolley Square 801.328.2586
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Casual book talk and news with Catherine.
at Coffee Connection in Trolley Square
LIT-KNIT
Craft Circle
Every 2nd and 4th Wednesday
6-8 pm
May 24
and June 14 & 28
THE COLLECTORS' BOOK SALON
Collectors' Chat and refreshments.
On May 27,
Tony Weller will discuss rare anarchist and other idealistic topics that ignited his revolutionary zeal and extended his hopes for humanity to absurd heights.
On June 30, our speaker will be Joan Nay, ex-Weller employee
and presently Acquisitions and Rare Book Specialist at the LDS Church History Library.
Last Friday of every month
6:30-9 pm
Collectors' Chat 7:30 pm
May 27 and June 30
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From Tony Weller
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Amazon: Eroding Jobs and Threatening Communities
Recently, I was encouraged to learn that Amazon was finally going to start collecting sales taxes from Utah customers. My relief was badly diminished when I learned that details of Utah's deal with Amazon are secret. I can't think of any good reason why government should cut secret deals. If Governor Herbert thought he made a wise deal, why are the terms secret? Because he knows whatever he gave Amazon in trade will anger Utah citizens. But it will be too late then and you, unwitting tax-payer, will subsidize a warehouse or distribution center whether you want to or not.
Since Amazon's founding in 1995, the company has grown exponentially. While Amazon's offerings and services are attractive, their practices are aggressive, ethically questionable and sometimes illegal. They are our Nation's largest retailer.
The Institute for Local Self Reliance
has studied and provided information about economics and communities for more than 40 years. Their November 2016 report,
Amazon's Stranglehold: How the Company's Tightening Grip Is Stifling Competition, Eroding Jobs, and Threatening Communities
is 79 pages long. The data it presents is ominously impressive. Municipalities from coast to coast have subsidized Amazon projects that hurt local businesses, reduce property taxes, eliminate jobs and leave blighted neighborhoods. Click here for the whole report.
It measures and defines more conniving and subversive Amazon practices than can be counted on one's fingers. Many do not yet recognize the magnitude of the Amazon threat so here are some facts for consideration:
- Amazon now controls half of America's online shopping market.
- Amazon has eliminated roughly 149,000 more jobs than it has created in warehouses, where workers are paid 15% less than in other similar warehouses.
- Amazon mines data from users in order to adjust prices and control producers, selections and product placement for better profits. Selling the same product to different buyers for different prices without "cost justification" violates anti-trust laws.
- Amazon's influence in book publishing is particularly detrimental to a free society since books affect the exchange of information and ideas. Amazon manipulates search results to punish or favor publishers. They also increase prices and delay shipping for customers who don't join their Prime program.
- Amazon's growing market share has led to vacancies in more than 135 million square feet of retail space in the United States.
- Amazon's long avoidance of sales tax collection has reduced municipal budgets, making it harder for communities to afford essential services. Tax avoidance was a crucial competitive factor that contributed to Amazon's growth and hegemony. It is tragic and pathetic that for more than 20 years, elected officials neglected tax laws at the expense of their own constituents' businesses and jobs, as well as community services.
Read more of Tony's article by picking up a physical copy of Text Block in our store.
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March & April Events
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FRI
DAY, MAY 12, 7 PM
Stumbling Blocks and Stepping-Stones
by
Duane Jennings
examines Mormonism's long struggle with those it has deemed transgressive: its LGBTQ members. It emboldens both sides to dialogue and consider the possibility of full acceptance within the faith.
 SATURDAY, MAY 13, 7 PM
Jeana Watters
presents a
modern Shakespeare retelling with
The Winter's Song
: the story of a boy-a college dropout who spends his days snowboarding-and a girl-a musician who gave up the viola and is trying to work her way through college. The mismatched couple creates an unlikely bond when they find a collection of unread letters addressed to a baby who died years before. Together, they uncover clues to find a mysterious prisoner behind those letters.
 TUESDAY, MAY 16, 6:30 PM
Leslie Zimmerman
presents
Dream Big
.
This charming picture book follows the imaginations of young Tim Turtle after he is asked by his teacher, "What would you like to become someday?" His imagination carries him from one interesting career possibility to another. From being an astronaut to a cake decorator, or a seamstress to a veterinarian, his dreams are big, just like yours can be. Tim Turtle reminds us that we can be anything we set out to be, yet sometimes, it's the "right now" that matters most.
 THURSDAY, MAY 18, 6 PM
Please join us for a poetry slam presented by the
Olympus High Gay Straight Alliance
. Students from Olympus will be performing original poems for prizes. The theme of the night is expression, so come down for an evening of creativity and diversity. Please be aware there may be colorful language used during the event.
 FRIDAY, MAY 19, 7 PM
Torrey House Press presents
Red Rock Testimony
, conversations of history, geology, poetry, wonder, and record keeping. We are thrilled to welcome several of these contributors for an authors' panel. Joining us will be
Stephen Trimble, Karen Shepherd, Anne Terashima, Brooke Larsen, Jana Richman
, and former Utah Poet Laureate
David Lee
! If you care about Utah and the beautiful public lands it provides, you won't want to miss this.
SUNDAY, MAY 21, 3 PM
Books and Cooks Culinary Competition
: Cupcakes. Email event coordinator Lane Richins at [email protected] for more info on how to participate in the competition or volunteer as a judge!
 WEDNESDAY, MAY 24, 6:30 PM
In
Elephants on the Rampage: The Eclipse of American Conservatism
,
Sara Jarman
argues that an effective classical conservatism is necessary to the vitality of the American political system, but the Republican Party has moved away from the classical model, becoming increasingly more progressive in its attempts to redefine its political ideology. Now, American conservatives must grapple with the psychological and the practical struggle to redefine themselves.
THURSDAY, MAY 25, 7 PM
Books and Bridges
:
Wrestling Between Ethics and Faith.
Jacob Baker
, philosophy professor at Utah Valley University, will lead a discussion on Soren Kierkegaard's enigmatic book
Fear and Trembling
.
 SUNDAY, JUNE 4, 3 PM
Wine Drinkers with Reading Problems Book Club
at
We Olive.
This month we're reading
The Mad Feast: An Ecstatic Tour Through America's Food
, by Matthew Gavin Frank. The renowned essayist takes on America's food, examining a quintessential dish in each state, interweaving the culinary with personal and cultural associations of each region.
 TUESDAY, JUNE 6, 6:30 PM
Patricia Koerner
presents
Remember This
.
Hannah, a gifted pianist and Grammy winning composer, has been looking forward to seeing her lover, John, an actor, after months of separation. When he dies suddenly only days before he was to arrive, their hidden relationship is made a public internet scandal. In a chance encounter, Hannah meets Sophie, an aspiring young journalist eager to write Hannah's side of the story along with its secrets.
THURSDAY, JUNE 15, 7 PM
Books and Bridges
: discussion with professor
James Siebach
on Socrates and Jesus.
 TUESDAY JUNE 20, 6:30 PM
Christopher Husberg
presents the second volume in his Chaos Queen Quintet:
Dark Immolation
. A new religion is rising, gathering followers drawn by rumors of prophetess Jane Oden. Her sister Cinzia is by her side, but fears that Jane will lead them to ruin; for both the Church and the assas
sins are still on their trail, and much worse may come. Meanwhile, Knot, his true nature now revealed if not truly understood, is haunted by the memories of others, and is not the ally he once was.
 WEDNESDAY JUNE 21, 7 PM
Join us at the
City Library
for a conversation with New York Times bestselling author
Mary Roach
and Salt Lake Tribune writer
Ellen Fagg Weist
! After the chat, Mary will sign copies of her provocative and illuminating books. All will be available for puchase. Mary Roach is the author of
Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War
,
Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void
,
Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex
,
Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife
, and
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
.
 THURSDAY, JUNE 22, 7 PM
The amazing
David Sedaris
will be in the store to present
Theft by Finding: Diaries 1977-2002
. For nearly four decades, he has faithfully kept a diary in which he records his thoughts and observations on the odd and funny events that are the source of his remarkable autobiographical essays. Anyone who has attended a live Sedaris event knows that his diary readings are often among the most joyful parts of the evening. But never before have they been available in print. From deeply poignant to laugh-out-loud funny, these selections reveal with new intimacy a man longtime readers only think they know.
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Best Weller's Pick for May-June
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Where the Water Goes: Life and Death Along the Colorado River
David Owen
Review by José
Knighton
Riverhead Books
9781594633775
Publisher's Price: $28
Our Price $22.40
Near the beginning of David Owen's new book he makes a Jonathan Swiftian
Modest Proposal
, "water problems in the western United States, when viewed from afar, can seem tantalizingly easy to solve: all we need to do is turn off the fountains at the Bellagio, stop selling hay to China, ban golf, cut down the almond trees, and
kill all the lawyers
." Though I knew he was being blatantly whimsical, I couldn't resist the impulse to entertain, briefly, the fantasy of his final suggestion (which I've purposefully emphasized). It would simultaneously free the once mighty Colorado River of its siphoning parasites and drain the halls of Congress of much of the stagnant bile that has accumulated since John Wesley Powell-diminished from pioneer explorer of that river's greatest chasms and cataracts into the supreme bureaucrat of the Department of Interior-invented the (now infamous) Congressional Rider to get his unelected agendas made into law.
The rest of Owen's book, however, focuses a critical eye on the crucial details rather than "view(ing) from afar." Even so, he manages his often cumbersome task with a light touch, insightful humor, and an eye for iconic irony: "recessions are generally good for the environment; so far, they've been the most broadly effective tool, worldwide, for reducing carbon output." During FDR's administration, when California was building the Parker Dam to divert the Colorado's water to the state's farms, the Governor of Arizona notified the President that he'd issued a proclamation declaring martial law on his side of the river. Since the portion of the river in question comprised the boundary between the two states, martial law on one shore made completion of the dam impossible-for a time. A humorous perspective on such conflicts can easily evaporate; Owen later explains that the civil war in Syria "was preceded . . . by catastrophic aquifer depletion accompanied by record-breaking drought."
It's been 30 years since Reisner's
Cadillac Desert
was published, 35 for Fradkin's
River No More
, 60 for Waters'
The Colorado
, and 140 for Powell's
Cañons of the Colorado
.
Owen's book is an important update: Colorado River 5.0.
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Rare Book Spotlight
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A slipcased set of H.G. Wells' three great Science Fiction novels: The Time Machine, The Invisible Man, and The War of the Worlds. These wonderful editions from the London Folio Society are bound well in heavy gilt decorated blue, green and red cloth; and illustrated in color by Grahame Baker. $250
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For more about our
events,
staff reviews, and
rare book acquisitions, please see our
newsletter archive.
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