“The Bookstore at the End of America”

In class we’ve read the text called “The Bookstore at the End of America” by Charlie Jane Anders. This was a story about a woman named Molly who’s the owner of a bookstore called “the First and Last Page.” This bookstore is the border between America and California. It separates these both countries because in the setting of this story both countries dislike each other but both still have the need for books. The bookstore is located on top of a hill, it has two walkways lined with blank slates and grass and has two identical signs welcoming customers and it’s a blue colored building shaped like an old-fashioned barn with a slanted tiled roof and generous rain gutters. Molly just wanted a place where she could bring literature and a little peace to the chaos. In the story it shares how sometimes people asked her why she didn’t just create one entrance and force the people from America to talk to the Californians, and vice versa, “maybe expose one side or the other to some books that might challenge their worldview just a little.” Molly would reply by saying she had a business to run, and if she managed to keep everyone reading, then that was enough.” The theme stated throughout this story is that reading can be used as a tool to fight division among different groups. A quote from the story that for me truly resonated with the theme was the following, “Everybody needs books, Molly figured. No matter where they live, how they love, what they believe, whom they want to kill. We all want books.” Another example showed in the story that helped make the connection about how the same taste in literature can help demonstrate the similarities groups have in character and interests. In the story Molly describes a scenario that happened at the bookstore she told the story of Sander a Canadian and Teri an American, Sander went looking for the book called “Souls on the Land,” which Teri had bought, which shows how they disliked each other but still had the need for the same book. The story also mentioned how reading could become a refuge in which you could escape to and get away from real life situations. The following quote from the story shares how actual refugees saw the bookstore, “Molly’s store because books meant civilization, or maybe the store’s name seemed to promise a kind of safe passage: the first page leading gracefully to the last.” Molly would help refugees move from America to California and would give them a free book that would keep them company on their journey. I really enjoyed this story because it made me draw conclusions on how literature can be more than just reading but it could help form connection with people that may seem different to us.