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Waterstones and censoership

174 replies

MiladyBerserko · 15/08/2021 08:44

I have been reading about concerns re Waterstones not displaying Helen Joyce's Trans book on Twitter, for example:
mobile.twitter.com/GreenFemsUK/status/1425764602722275337

I have been into three Waterstones in the last two weeks. It was not displayed in two shops and ther was one copy in the third. I asked about it in one of the no-display stores and apparently there was one in store but couldn't be found (!)

Has anyone else had this experience? If you are passing a Waterstones, have a quick check...

OP posts:
EsmaCannonball · 15/08/2021 11:55

In my local Waterstones there was an entire bookcase of non-fiction bestsellers right by the door. Trans had been placed at the very bottom right-hand corner despite having outsold the more prominently placed books. They obviously feel obliged to stock it with the bestsellers but, rather churlishly, have put it in the worst place.

redsplodge · 15/08/2021 11:59

There was a copy (only one) in the Current Titles section of a branch of Waterstones near me. I was torn on whether to buy it given how prominently it was displayed. I won't name the branch as the staff member at the till said very quietly 'I hope you enjoy it'. If she is aware of the situation she'd have known my views - my face mask is in suffragette colours Grin

Abhannmor · 15/08/2021 12:01

Blackwells are pretty good in my experience . I used to buy from Book Depository before Amazon bought it out.

tootiredtobother · 15/08/2021 12:02

found one Yipeeee . online order to collect from Banbury store
Hardback £16. or thereabouts

TooWicked · 15/08/2021 12:03

My local store said they’d have to order it in for me, which I made them do.

tootiredtobother · 15/08/2021 12:06

oh and REDsplodge, where did you get your mask pls ? or did you make it yourself ?
ta

NannyAndJohn · 15/08/2021 12:09

They've been on my boycott list for a while now.

I won't buy from Amazon, and our local independent is wokier than woke (fucking rainbow flags everywhere).

EsmaCannonball · 15/08/2021 12:15

The comparison with The Satanic Verses is interesting. Despite the international fatwa, the murders and the very hostile protests, my local Waterstones (then known as Dillons) had it displayed in its rightful bestselling place, even though a huge Muslim man had chosen to plant himself in front of the shelf. (He moved aside quite politely if anyone actually tried to buy it.) Far more obvious risk and yet the book was still sold.

My English teacher at the time - a horrible woman who loathed female students, simpered over the male ones, and was very showy with her Catholicism - told us all that Salman Rushdie knew what he was doing and deserved whatever he was going to get.

Anotheruser02 · 15/08/2021 13:40

They join the naughty list, right below Dove.

SeaRabbit · 15/08/2021 13:49

My son and I went to buy it from our local Waterstones. I was told it was too small a branch to stock it. Even though it's a best seller?

Anyway they said there were 3 copies at the branch in the next town. None was on the shelves. Apparently someone had asked for 3 to be put aside, but they hadn't been to collect them so they were still behind the counter. Not sure I believed it, but I bought one to make a point. Won't bother to buy from our town's Waterstones again, I think.

cariadlet · 15/08/2021 14:04

I went to my nearest city - 1 copy with the new non-fiction.

I've been to my nearest Waterstone's twice. None on display. First time, the assistant had to go and search for it. Next time, the (different) assistant turned to a cupboard behind the till. I think they had 2 or 3 copies in there. Goodness knows why they decided to hide them away like dirty mags.

Waitwhat23 · 15/08/2021 14:06

I mean, it's ridiculous. Have other 'controversial' books been subject to this level of 'dirty mag' treatment?

BrozTito · 15/08/2021 14:08

Its not censorship.

KittenKong · 15/08/2021 14:13

Not a sausage in Notting Hill. Woeful selection of ‘wimmins’ books (not that it was listed as such, just a shelf tucked working the non fiction area).

Precipice · 15/08/2021 14:17

Got mine no problem back in July. Checked beforehand it was available for 'click and collect', then went to find it in store. It was Glasgow Argyll Street, which is small-ish (it has three floors, but it's not wide, bigger than the Byres one). Not in the new hardbacks section. Went upstairs to the philosophy-sociology-economics mix and looked in vain. Feeling a bit awkward for fear of awkward staff, went downstairs and asked about it, guy looked it up and said it should be there on the shelf. Did eventually find it in the corner of the topshelf, next to Stock's book (1 each, but that's true of most of the books there). I don't think it was actively hidden tbh, I found that branch not the easiest for navigating in the non-fiction section.

For online sales, Liverpool's News from Nowhere bookshop (independent run by a woman workers' co-op) was decent and that's where I got Stock's book from, but I was going on a trip and wanted it before I went. (For Stock's) They did have a version listed as a non-existent paperback for some reason and took NBT payments.

redsplodge · 15/08/2021 14:32

tootiredtobother the face masks were from Redbubble - lots of suffragette designs there, I also have the mugs Smile The Radical Teatowel Company has suffragette designs too.

Ereshkigalangcleg · 15/08/2021 14:37

as the staff member at the till said very quietly 'I hope you enjoy it'.

Poor woman. Under His Eye.

malloo · 15/08/2021 14:47

I decided to make a point of going into Waterstones to buy it rather than just getting online. Checked first that it was in stock then went in. Couldn't find it anywhere so asked for it and they directed me to where it was, quite hidden away and only 1 copy. Staff were very nice, didn't get the impression they were judging, in fact got a big smile from the young woman at the cash desk which gave me hope!

Rubidium · 15/08/2021 14:54

Blackwells are pretty good in my experience

Yes, I was in our local Blackwells yesterday and it was just inside the door in the middle of the 'New and Reviewed' hardbacks, next to Matt Haig's latest.

Gab2 · 15/08/2021 15:20

@Sonarl

It doesn't surprise me. All the Waterstones round here are staffed by the woker than woke.

I know it's wrong but I suspect it's a losing battle. I bought my copy from Amazon.

I experienced this. I asked in waterstones do they have it or can they order it in and the assistant said "we don't do business with that publisher". I found that odd and her tone was slightly irritated.
JoyousAsOtters · 15/08/2021 16:12

I can highly recommend this local independent bookshop if you are in Gloucestershire, plus they’ll deliver. I’ve no idea about their stocks of Helen Joyce but they had a huge half window display of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s works recently which I’d say bodes well …

yellowlightedbookshop.co.uk/

EmpressGrey · 15/08/2021 16:48

I've been wanting to get back into reading real books for a while but nothing seems to hold my attention long enough to break a digital addiction. So as I'm currently laid up with a broken ankle, I thought now would be the perfect time to gain some deeper understanding around the trans ideology - I've been following this board for a while. I went into Waterstones in Wells curious to see what reaction I would get when I asked for the book and ready to give them a lecture on freedom of thought. Instead there it was in the 'new non-fiction' area and no funny looks either when I took it to the till, where I was served by an older male. The book is excellent, it's well-argued, evidenced and a good read. I don't have much faith in Waterstones. I'm an author myself and have found that Waterstones are much more likely to stock the likes of Fearne Cotton than they are someone like me who's an expert in the subject. She has the fame and I have a foreign-sounding surname. They will always trot out the 'we can order it for you' line. I, too, recommend Hive as an ethical alternative to Amazon.

MaudTheInvincible · 15/08/2021 16:49

I got mine from Blackwell's too. Very quick delivery and well-priced.

GingerAndTheBiscuits · 15/08/2021 16:53

It was in our local Waterstones a couple of weeks ago as I placed it front and centre in the new hardback section.

Sonarl · 15/08/2021 16:59

Any behaviour like this now just makes me laugh. It's massively into cutting your nose off to spite your face territory. Just like the companies that make sanitary products for people who menstruate and men. Imagine being a small company, starting out, competing with the likes of Amazon and the supermarkets, or a small publishing house competing with JK Rowling's publisher, and alienating and turning off a massive chunk of your target audience and demographic market to appear woke or to satisfy personal crusades of the owners or staff. You'd be laughed off any MBA or Business course if you described that.

All of it just makes me like and enjoy shopping at Amazon more, I have to say. Despite the tax issues they so far haven't inflicted any woke bollocks on me.