In a famous passage in Ernest Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises,” a novel that Book World used to sell, a character is asked how he went bust. “Gradually and then suddenly.”That more or less mirrors what happened to Book World and other bookstore chains. But readers are increasingly ordering those books online, getting them delivered with their clothes and peanut butter and diapers. “Technology is going to be the downfall of civilization.”Stoicism is a classic Midwest attribute, which probably helped keep Book World alive for years. This month, Mr. Bauer, 63, signed a contract to buy the Book World building and its fixtures for more than $300,000.

Source: New York Times December 28, 2017 23:48 UTC