"Usually, if I choose the store over the online purchase, it's because I have a second motive--something beyond the quick, easy transaction. Even the very best and most creative booksellers face a huge hurdle if each customer must be lured in via the literary version of bread and circuses. . . . I like the idea of supporting local businesses, but in practice, I do so mainly when those local businesses are well and interestingly enough run that they bring me in on the merits. They can be more expensive than the bargain basements of the web--but not wildly so. And there has to be value added in exchange for those modestly higher prices. Is that too high a bar to set for businesses run by our neighbors and friends?"--Marc Fisher in the Washington Post