On The Books: A Graphic Tale of Working Woes at NYC's Strand Bookstore

by Greg Farrell

A David and Goliath story, On The Books is the first-hand comic strip account of the labor struggle at NYC’s legendary Strand bookstore in the summer of 2012. Told by Greg Farrell—an employee of the store who interviewed numerous other members of the staff—the book examines the motives and actions of those involved, including the store, the staff, the union local, and the people of New York City. Through interstitial comic portraits Farrell gives voice to his comrades, who often share a nuance of the story that would have otherwise gone overlooked and provide a depth of opinion and fairness to accompany Farrell’s often very personal interpretation of events. In ten short chapters the book explores at once the inner workings of our national retail environment, the struggle to exist within it as a young working person, the current state of the book trade, and the impact of the economic recession on all of these facets.

Genres: Nonfiction, Graphic Novels, Comics, Books About Books, Memoir, Business, Graphic Novels Comics

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Nick Jones · Rating 1 out of 5]

It takes a remarkable kind of author to tell the story of a group of low-wage workers doing battle with a business' management and make the store seem sympathetic while the struggling employees come off as petty, self-absorbed jerks. Greg Farrell manages it, which is extraordinary considering that he was shooting for the exact opposite result. His oppressive smugness and snide insults directed at people who don't seem all that bad are incredibly off-putting, and I can only imagine that his obvious solipsistic narcissism led him to never consider the idea that people might not view the events he's portraying in exactly the same way he does, with normal people perhaps being less than enraged about a bookstore selling a few totes with the store's logo on it or, horror of horrors, mugs that say "I <3 BOOKS!"

Now, it's not just the fact that Farrell (and by proxy everyone he's allied with) comes across as completely unlikable that makes this book bad, it's also that he doesn't seem to remotely understand the medium he's working in. This book has multiple boxes on each page consisting of a bar of text over a small comic panel, standard enough for this sort of book. The text portion is tedious, with Farrell alternating between providing a history of his union and complaining about the people he works for. The comics are entirely superfluous attempts at jokes (most of which are mean-spirited, none of which are funny), with art that would be considered marginal if coming from a preschooler, much less an adult. The main problem is that the text and comics frequently have no connection to one another, and even when they do it's presented as a vague analogy that doesn't logically connect, causing a continual rapid-fire switch between unrelated ideas. Comics are supposed to be the union (so to speak) of text and images, but Farrell creates a discontinuity between the two elements that breaks up the narrative flow a dozen times on every page, making for a disjointed, taxing, largely incoherent read.

I don't know which this book makes me want to do more: Boycott The Strand because they employ somebody like Greg Farrell or go there and buy a dozen Strand-branded tote bags just to make Greg Farrell seethe into the two glasses of wine he's sporting in the author picture that he can only afford because the bosses he hates are gracious enough to employ him.

[Hannah Garden · Rating 5 out of 5]

September 2023: Ah man I am reading this again and it feels so fun already. I love comics like this, living comics, snackable comics, weird handmade heartfelt comics. I totally forgot that Jillian reviewed it on Hyperallergic until I got to the end of my own old review! So that was fun to reread this morning, and then made me want to reread and so am linking Hamilton's related piece of writing from back then:

https://www.gawker.com/386632/famous-...

It feels really good to be reading things that make me smile and laugh, I am fresh on the heels (and still in the belly of) a lot of heavy Sylvia Plath reading and there's just a real benefit I receive from work like this, reading and feeling part of the world with work like this.

I will update this more review-ishly maybe when I finish but I just wanted to butt in real quick and say ah man feels good, feels good to be reading fun shit. I am on a hard fast from sour bullshit in my life rn. Fun shit is the prescription, and this is my dose.

August 2014: I've been waiting to come up with a great review of this but I'd like to just go ahead and instead of waiting say this book is terrific. I worked at Strand for six years and it is legit amazing to see how totally reportorial and journalistic a perspective Greg managed to maintain in writing and drawing this thing. Like he doesn't draw certain monsters as monsters, for one thing, and he gives everyone's side, not just the workers. This book is probably best if you have some connection to Strand, but it's hard to imagine anyone not getting into it. It's an interesting story well-told, and Greg is very funny. The Strand makes boatloads of money and it doesn't pay its workers very well, and certain higher-ups actively engage in trying to make everyone feel like a useless scrod who is just lurking around waiting for opportunities to rob the store and waste time and fuck off, which most people are just not really doing at all. It's one of those tragic places where it could be a PERFECT job that you love FOREVER but constantly trying to just have self-respect as an adult when you're treated like a thieving idiot child is rough. The labor negotiations swivel around this pole--workers trying to assert self-regard, management trying to assert that the workers are dirt--and Greg has done an awesome job preserving the struggle for posterity.

Here is the wonderful Jillian's write-up in Hyperallergic: http://hyperallergic.com/159754/new-y...

[Jesse Richards · Rating 1 out of 5]

Some of my issues with this:

1. As an accurate account of this labor dispute, this book may be a useful historical record, but as a story, it is boring and incoherent. It is literally a record of a single store's labor negotiations. Nothing dramatic or riveting happens at all.

2. I feel like it would have been better as prose than a graphic novel: the pictures added nothing to the words. In fact, half the panels were excellent examples of what Scott McCloud calls non-sequitor relationships between words and pictures. Many of them were gags or jokes and seemed forced so that there would be a picture in every panel.

3. There were practically no characters. Using weird animals and shapes as proxies to protect anonymity meant that the people were hard to relate to and believe as real people.

4. I was not already sympathetic to the laborers' plight, and this book didn't seem to try to change my mind. What were their main complaints? I've worked several retail jobs, and this seems like a totally normal working environment. The book didn't spend enough time at the beginning showing the problems working there, instead assuming you already agreed with the laborers and jumping into the negotiations in excruciating detail.

5. The cover of the book says "On the Books: A Graphic Tale of Working Woes at NYC's Strand Bookstore", giving (me at least) a false impression that the book would examine the actual working conditions or daily life of the store. Nothing on the front cover mentions a labor dispute or the trials of a union. "A Graphic Tale of Strand Bookstore's Labor Negotiations" would have been more honest.

[Lucia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hope the workers of The Strand see brighter days. The only reason I rated this so low is because the narrative itself here isn't very coherent and I don't feel like I got much out of it or enjoyed it.

[Patti · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is about the worker strike that occurred in 2012 at NYC's Strand Bookstore. The author tells the story through this graphic memoir and tries to add artwork to some conversations that actually took place.

Some interesting facts about the Labor Movement and Union policies/practices. I love hearing about the iconic Strand Bookstore. Didn't care much for the art, or the crude language that seemed to be thrown in for shock factor with little merit...repeated references to being F'ed in the A. College frat guy stuff. Found a lot of it uninteresting, self-indulgent, and whiny. This is a shame since I went into this wanting to root for the workers and the strike, but I found a lot of the people gross and their behavior a bit shameful. I hate to say this as I'm sure I would have liked a short story detailing this struggle better, and might have felt more empathy for the plight of those whose benefits were being reduced. This format, content, and style was just not the medium for me.

[Joe O'Brien · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full disclosure: I clerked at The Strand for nearly 3 years, though I left shortly before the author of this book began working there, and I don't know him personally. He certainly captures the class warfare / office politics I remember from my time there, and shows that things have progressed more or less the way I imagined they would. I had a blast seeing cartoon Fred & Nancy Bass, and trying to figure out which oddly-disguised characters were which of my former colleagues-- things most other readers probably won't grok. Still, the author does a fine job keeping the story accessible, always tying it back to the past, present, and dim future of American labor & unions, and, to a lesser extent, book retail. The drawings have an endearing punk amateurishness and absurdity that keep things amusing through stretches of talking head panels.

[Hanna Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

As someone who did not really know anything about unionizing issues at the Strand, I learned a lot about this specific event. I do think this had some valuable information about the on-going union process, especially for people who know little to nothing about what unionizing entails.

That being said…….. I didn’t like Greg. He was both anti-employer and anti-union, which I would’ve been all about if he wanted to be MORE radical because there definitely are issues that come up when you have to work within the system. So if he wanted to just fuck the whole establishment, word. But instead it kind of just seemed like he was a curmudgeon. I never really understood his involvement because it came off like he was irritated by both sides and didn’t really care, but obviously he does because he was publishing these comics to keep people informed. So that was confusing to me.

Also I know this was 2012, but there were some imagery that was not okay. The recurring pedophiles and a couple graphics of r*** were not funny or necessary.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars--I'm a little conflicted in rating this book--I appreciate its message, but I didn't find it particularly entertaining or enjoyable to read, and I didn't like the art. I bought this book thinking that it was a graphic novel about working in an historic book store when it's actually more about an ongoing labor dispute and union issues at the Strand. I could see this book being most appreciated by current and former Strand employees, or by other people who experienced similar issues regarding unions and labor disputes. There is some good information in the book but the overall execution just didn't work for me.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is being passed around the stores as our union book club pick. Reminds me that we are soooo early in the process. Every time we have a new step coming up my brain only thinks toward the next step. Like first I was only focused on filing, then I was only focused on the election, now I’m focused on the first contract. It was honestly a bit disheartening, but it was truthful. Farrell’s critiques of his bookstore felt very familiar. Farrell’s left leaning and pro-worker but he was very unhappy with his union UAW. I wonder if this is even a good one to pass around a store that’s so early in the process, on one hand we should have a realistic idea of the struggles ahead but at the same time he is proving some of the anti-union rhetoric right, like the fact that the union is a slow moving bureaucracy with lots of communication difficulties, he complains about dues being a waste of money. Which may be true for that specific union! It’s not like I am expecting a union to mean absolutely ideal working conditions and being paid a million dollars. Obviously he’s exaggerating and using humor, but he shows the union president playing angry birds instead of negotiating etc. But hey maybe Pablo did really suck as both a person and a negotiator. Greg is a 2012 brooklynite white rapper, which is a horrific set of descriptors, so some of my knee-jerk dislike of him is not his fault because even the best person in the world could not survive those facts and come out likable. I know he is being hyperbolic in many instances for a humorous effect, but the pedo jokes just don’t land. I really liked the documentary style interviews where the employees are portrayed as a taco or whatever. Those interludes showed a wide range of feelings about the union struggles. It is really hard to organize in industries with high turnover like retail, and like the Strand, the company I work for is doing its best to become a temporary job rather than one people stay at. It reminds me of back in college, I wasn’t very involved with organizing but knew many people who were, and basically the school could just drag something out until summer/winter break and by the new semester all momentum is gone and important figures graduate away. Still worth it to try and fight it which is also the books takeaway

[Raina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This turns out to be a collection of shorter pieces (zines, possibly?) made over the course of years of contract negotiations and union woes between the ownership/management of the Strand and the employees.

I learned a lot more about union inner workings than about what it's actually like to work at the bookstore. As a union advocate, I appreciated the union content, but was a little disappointed to not learn more about the day-to-day, beyond the conflict.

As far as execution goes, part of me wanted a more edited, plotted-out story, but that would have required reworking the content. As an archive of in-the-moment advocacy documents, this fulfills its purpose.

[Jeff · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lousy graphic history about the nastiest, vicious, most incompetent group of employees to ever work in retail—the employees of Strand Books. Back in the 80s and 90s, it took a lot of restraint on my part not to beat the shit out of any one of these nasty little buggers. They thought that because they were union they couldn't be fired. They seemed to be a bunch of failed authors, musicians and artists who took out their frustrations and impotence on their customers. I have dozens of stories of epic rudeness on the part of Strand employees. Whenever I complained to Fred Bass, the owner, he just sat there with his head bent down, looking like a defeated man. His employees made life hell for him.

This book, however, does provide one service. It shows by example everything that's gone wrong with the unions in this country. Enjoy it if you can stomach it.

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed reading this graphic novel and think it's an important documentation of the struggles organized labor face in today's capitalist society. Farrell is hyperbolic to the point of comedy in his drawings/examples, but those moments are necessary comic relief in the narrative of the "David and Goliath story" that the book (which is well put together, and has a beautiful textured cover) copy. Disclosure: I worked at Strand 07-09, during the first leg of negotiations that the book comments upon, though I can imagine anyone interested in unions/labor history--or Strand/New York history-- enjoying this graphic novel, for sure. I also think it's rad that the store carries copies of this book? What a weird world we live in. Solidarity.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

A first person account of the ongoing issues between the management of the strand and the workers. The book reminded me of the literature that union workers produced in the 20th century. The story in important and the events culturally relevant, I had problems with the book. The sequences in the art some time became confusing and there was an overuse of halftone dots throughout the book. The narrative was also sometimes hard to follow, it felt like it was written for insiders who would have a better idea of the actors and the reasons for the strange creatures used in the interviews ( author's choice? Interviewee's choice to mask identity? I could not tell). It's worth reading to get a perspective of book-selling in NYC.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who was a part of unionizing a beloved bookstore institution (Powell's Books in Portland, OR ) I can totally relate to the trials & tribulations of these workers at The Strand Bookstore. It is literally a labor of love. Good luck to The Strand workers in their future endeavors. And ironically, Patti Smith (who worked at The Strand & appears in two different panels) featured prominently in our organizing struggles-- she publicly supported us, which was a huge boost to the workers morale.

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed this immensely. Detailed and entertaining account of the labor dispute at the Strand and the author's navigation of those events, told with a combination of journalism and humor that works really well.

Although the author clearly has his own perspective, the book also does a great job of showing different points of view, particularly in the interviews of other Strand employees.

Recommend.

[Rachel Drrmrmrr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly I would get a little lost with this because I would find myself comparing these experiences to those I had working at my last job. I feel working at strand may help with getting into this but really just having worked for idiots that you need to babysit while they pay you too little to exist comfortably can get you into this. I'm not particularly into journalistic stuff but that's just my taste, otherwise I think this was pretty well done.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A glimpse into labor disputes and contract negotiation at the Strand bookstore. Farrell points out the pros and cons to organized labor, and the challenges of trying to unite and educate employees and the public. An important book, though it gets repetitive.

[Zoe I.L.K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished it, it's completely brilliant and informative full review to come soon

full review here: http://goo.gl/U1W5G6

[Peter Knox · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very quick one-day read that thought me a great deal both about the history of organizing, the utility of Unions, and the worker/owner conflict that's a part of The Strand. When I lived down the street from the famous bookstore back in 2006, I'd spend what little I had left over from my publishing paycheck on books there.

What I didn't know was over the next several years there would be so much turmoil over fighting for benefits, PTO, and minimum wages. This book lays out the case and the story behind this battle as a long-term unionized employee of The Strand, writing this comic in real-time as it happened.

The recession, publishing industry disruption, death of Borders, and Occupy Wall Street may have taken up bigger headline space - but I'm glad this story gets told and told with such a personal touch (I particularly enjoyed the mini page profiles of employees voicing their histories and opinions). The drawing style isn't particularly my favorite style, yet it works very well in this Village Voice type of tone.

The book leaves things hanging, the narrative was pretty choppy, and it swung wildly between didactic preachy explainers and jokes among coworkers. I've always been 'Long Live The Strand' but now I'm re-thinking my tote bag and mug a little more.

[Maggie Gordon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like On the Books. Bookstores! Union politics! These are topics that I quite enjoy. Unfortunately, this book is an incoherent collection of short commentaries and interviews about a period of worker unrest at Strand Books that never coalesces into a proper story. It fails both as a historical piece for it doesn't embed much analysis at all, but also as a graphic piece as there's little point to the art work. Not a fan.

[Becca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably the most honest union story I’ve read! Most stories of unions focus on unionization rather than on the activities once a union is formed like contract negotiations. This is a disservice to the majority of folks who have never experienced the reality of being in a union and don’t know what to expect once unionized. I’d highly recommend as a book to share with coworkers if you are considering forming a union!

[Justin Decloux · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting account of the union disputes that raged at the Strand bookstore in 2012. It goes nowhere, but the author does a good job of taking the reader step-by-step to show how it ended up in that sad nowhere, worse off, place.

With jokes!

[Andrew Shaffer]

The interview sections with coworkers were interesting, as was the UAW history. A little more of the author’s personal story would have gone a long ways, though.

[Charlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ll let the book speak for itself: “This book is a message to [the workers], and anyone dissatisfied with their situation. That change is possible, and battles are won in their own way. It is important to analyze and learn from our previous efforts so as to avoid mistakes in the future as we continue to forge ahead.”

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Riveting storytelling. A lot was packed into this relatively short graphic novel, the main plot of which involved the struggle of the unionized workers at The Strand in their contract negotiation for more fair working conditions. It also included some history on The Strand, the literary culture of New York City, Labor Unions, booksellers, and retail stores. I really enjoyed the story-telling format the author used in many of the panels. The factual narration is followed with a joke to illustrate it. I liked the subtle, intellectual humor that captured the absurdity of the situations, for instance the ineffectual labor union president asked the union members to have a vote on what color pen to vote with, and one member said "Blue!" while the other said "Red!" Equally hilarious was a depiction of the store's management throwing themselves a party affiliated with the Bravo TV network during which workers picketed outside, while the management upstairs "were seen grousing in high up windows like cartoon villains." Having seen New York City rents sky-rocket, mom and pop stores/venues close, and the overall bohemian community diminish, I felt that this book extended beyond the struggle at The Strand and captured the cultural and economic climate of New York City (a cartoon-version of Patti Smith heroically decries the lack of opportunities for artists and young people in one of the book's panels). It's a shame that The Strand does not value its employees well enough to give them a fair wage, benefits, and holiday/sick leave, as considering the enthusiasm/talent/hard work of its workers and its sustained sales and clientele, The Strand could remain a much-need cultural oasis in Manhattan.

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very informational, but not very entertaining. I also got bummed out when Borders' demise gets brought out in the first pages.

[Chris Haggqvist · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being a long time retail employee and specifically a bookstore employee, I found this graphic novel illuminating. I actually had a dream when I was younger of working at The Strand. It was just such a mystical place with its mile high shelves and constant aroma of mustiness. After reading Greg's book though, that illusion is shattered and the place becomes very real: another retail store where employers must fight for the wages and benefits they rightly deserve.

Greg takes his real life experience and that of other employees and writes with zest about their struggles past, present and still to come. He does all this so well because it is clear he likes his job and cares about the place he works in. This dichotomy of loving one's job but hating one's treatment at said job is all too common in our country and Greg puts the fight to paper beautifully. Read this now if you are a retail or other low wage worker, or if you just care about the plight of the worker, which you should: we are the backbone of the society we all live in and deserve to be treated with respect.

[Athena · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is kind of a niche interest book. It's good if you want to learn about the nitty gritty of union organizing and negotiation in retail (though Strand employees are organized under UAW, the union to which I belong, and Greg Farrell's account mostly jives with my knowledge of UAW organizing at the University of California). The first couple of chapters are also interesting if you have any fascination with the Strand's iconic status in NY and beyond. And... that's mostly it. I appreciated how the narrative was "panelized" and how Farrell incorporates interviews with other Strand employees and disguises them in different ways, but the book goes into so much detail that it's not really worth checking out as a comic if you don't have these interests.

I don't like to support Microcosm Publishing, but I checked this out as an ebook from my public library and only noticed it was a Microcosm book after.

[Aubrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book because someone I know who worked at the Strand said it was good.

I don't live in NY and I've only been in the strand a few times (I lived in the city one brief summer more than 10 years ago and visited a few times then). This book was very insightful. I had no idea about any of this.

I would recommend this read to many people. It's a view into a slice of life, the Strand, organized labor, and one person's very (balanced, relatively speaking) view of all of this. Of course, what he says in these pages says more than just what he is talking about.

I liked it and would have given it another star if I was actually connected in some way to the place or events. But I am very glad I read this and know about it now.

Very cool.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating look at the front lines of organized labor in an unlikely place -- The Strand, a famous book store in NYC. The author intersperses his own account with short commentaries by his coworkers, and the result is a nuanced look at the workers' struggle -- with their supervisors, the company owners, their union reps, and their own consciences. Very funny, very thoughtful, and completely engrossing.

* Full disclosure: I got my copy of this graphic novel for free via the Goodreads "first reads" giveaway*