Paperback Dreams Screening with producer/director Alex Beckstead November 13, 2008

Paperback Dreams is the story of two iconic West Coast independent bookstores and their struggle to survive. The film follows Andy Ross, owner of Cody’s Books, and Clark Kepler, owner of Kepler’s Books, over the course of two tumultuous years in the book business. In the last decade, competition from big chains and the internet has put booksellers in a vise. Half the independent bookstores in America closed in the 1990s. But in the 1960s independent bookstores committed to free speech redefined intellectual life and democratized literature. Publishers put the classics into cheap paperback editions for the first time--literature was suddenly affordable for the masses.

Independent bookstores function as literary laboratories, and publishers rely on passionate booksellers to champion new and controversial works. Paperback Dreams celebrates what local stores offer communities and mourns the cultural loss that comes when a good bookstore closes its doors. Beckstead is a San Francisco-based documentary filmmaker. His last film, Trailer Park Blues aired on public television stations across the country.

DVDs will be on sale at this event. Purchase the DVD and support the film and Alex's future work.

Official Website: http://vertigo-books.com