for one thing, i know that a local bookstore will never punish writers by, say, yanking all Hachette titles off their shelves in a vindictive, monopolistic fit.

like others have said: Amazon has been a big reason why other bookstores are going out of business, and we are culturally poorer for it. bookstores are about culture, not speed. and it's also about who drives culture: neighborhoods and curators? or a neoliberal megacorporation that holds authors and publishers in disdain?