Lit Hub Interviews Chicago's Sector 2337 & Green Lantern Press

Directors, staff, and editors of Chicago's artist-run Sector 2337 and Green Lantern Press are interviewed at Lit Hub! The shop, which primarily focuses on poetry, "small-batch contemporary art books, theory, and literature," has some messages for Amazon, delights in its plant-consciousness display, considers infinite space, and more. An excerpt:

What’s your favorite book to handsell?

[Fulla Abdul-Jabbar (Assistant Editor, Green Lantern Press)]: New Documents recently published Mr. Peanut Drawings, which collects said drawings by Canadian artist Vincent Trasov, who, in the 1970s, ran as Mayor of Vancouver as Mr. Peanut, complete with a top hat and cane. The book collects various drawings of Mr. Peanut in various poses and settings. There’s one I really like of Mr. Peanut as The Death of Marat. . . anyway, I highly recommend it.

[Sam Chao (Gallery Coordinator)]: Hmm, that’s really hard to say, as we only have 1 to 2 copies. I like when people buy books after a poetry reading because it’s so rare and direct to be able to hear the writer speak. I also like the people who come in through the book. I also like when friends come in together. One friend recommends a book they read to the friend next to them. This friend would then buy the book the other friend recommended.

I also really like selling The Brightest Thing in the World by Matthew Goulish, one of our own Green Lantern Press titles, which is being reprinted with a new cover by Sonnenzimmer.

[Bec Hac (Bookstore Manager)]: We’ve published a book through Green Lantern Press, titled Diagrams, that shows “diagrams” of very abstract concepts, things that can’t really be visualized. For example, “Fate” is depicted as an arrow diving into a black box. There are diagrams for “Capital” and “Time” and more. None of them are labeled, so it’s fun to suggest it to customers, and watch them try to guess. The book becomes a game.

[Devin King (Codirector, Sector 2337 and The Green Lantern Press)]:  I don’t know which word stresses me out more: mouthfeel or handsell.

Read the full interview at Lit Hub.