Britain: Lefty Book Places in the North-West

Spike/splinters
Tuesday, September 19, 2006 :: by Ben G

As smaller UK book shops in general are dying out, one of the saddest casualties is the general demise of the Radical Book Store (Bookmarks in London being just one example.) I fondly remember one such store in Manchester, Frontline Books in Rusholme, a great shop which shut down back in 2000. One key reason being it was full of skint and/or tight arsed wasters like me hanging round, gazing admiringly, and buying nothing but the odd post-card. "

Note that the British Spike Magazine's "splinters" blog pages have a zinelike presentation in their text, sort of trying to be with-it, hipster literati, but splinters staff of bloggers makes no bones about all the advertising-in-your-face. They pay their writers through sponsors and ad presentations.

To my mind, as long as they do not sneak around the issue while trying to be subtle about it, I feel comfortable. I believe the spin (almost) that these enlightened one are trying to furnish us with a subtext. Spike Magazine isn't bland, which is good to see in the Brits, their food certainly is bland. Maby all the flash can be subversive.

Or maybe that's complete hog wash.

Well, Spike content first floats the bloated and then shoots it (them?) out of the water. Browsing over for the presentation Spike serves up is entertainment for adult readers -- perhaps only the jaded lefty counter-culture types . . . Dunno. Go ask an adolescent after the experience -- they can smell Mum and Pop trying to be 'hip' a mile away.

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