A Love Letter to Indie Bookstores
A rare bit of inspiration from your boy
Dear Bookseller,
I love comic books, and as a kid I devoured countless superhero stories.
Spider-Man’s intrinsic goodness, Ghost Rider’s gritty code, and The Punisher’s amoral crusade against organized crime encouraged me to interrogate life’s most complex ideas and ask life’s most unanswerable questions. Of course, the epic superpowers and reality-spanning battles also captured my imagination.
Comics catalyzed my lifelong love of reading, and in many ways inspired me to craft my own stories. I’m now the proud—if exhausted—father of two wildly imaginative children, and sharing my passion for the artform and teaching them all about those legendary characters is an absolute delight.
With age, experience, and dare I say wisdom, however, my perspective has evolved. Nowadays, when my kids ask me questions like: “Which superhero is the strongest?” or “Who would win: Hulk, Thor, or Thanos?” I have a stock answer at the ready. The strongest superpower of all is reading, I say. Because if you can read, you can do anything.
What then does that make bookstores, if not fantastical, all-powerful places where any- and everyone can turn themselves into a superhero?
Alas, with mis- and disinformation running rampant and censorship on the rise, bookstores are not just magical places where a child can foster their inherent curiosity. The service booksellers provide is as vital as ever. Books clarify, educate, and empower. Books speak objective truth in an age riven by cynical political rhetoric and sycophantic corporate enabling. For the contemporary author, confronting these realities is both an immense challenge and an immense privilege.
My debut novel Leverage is many things: a searching exploration of mixed-race identity, a grim examination of self-worth, a scathing indictment of Wall Street and unrestrained casino capitalism, and, above all, a fast-paced, darkly funny, and hella fun thrill ride.
The themes tackled in Leverage—corporate and political corruption, institutional racism and sexism, and systematized economic inequality, to name a few—are topical and resonant. My novel is exactly the kind of work the authoritarian movement would love to suppress, which is why I’m confident it will find an enthusiastic audience.
Against this dire backdrop, I want to thank you for the crucial role you play in creating a fairer, more just society. It’s my honor to share Leverage with you and the superheroes you help train each and every day.
—Amran Gowani
