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A Reader Shares a Telling Experience About Shopping at Barnes & Noble for Darwin’s Doubt

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Thoughtful reader Eric passes along the following:

I wanted to share with Stephen Meyer the experience that I had at the Manhattan Beach, California, Barnes & Noble this afternoon.

Perusing the Christian book section, I noticed copies of Dr. Meyer’s book Darwin’s Doubt on the bottom shelf, near the floor. (Several months ago I actually purchased a copy of the book here.) Reading the back cover of Darwin’s Doubt, I noticed that the publisher had categorized it as a book about SCIENCE/LIFE SCIENCES/EVOLUTION. I wondered why it was in the Christian section and not in the Science section.

I wandered over to the Science section and found three books by Richard Dawkins. The God Delusion was prominently displayed. I looked at its back cover and saw that it had been designated by the publisher as a book about religion. I wondered what it was doing in the Science section.

I presented these questions to the customer service representative. He told me that the store doesn’t necessarily shelve books as the publishers categorize them. He acknowledged that The God Delusion could be shelved in the Atheism section. I told him that Darwin’s Doubt uses hard science to argue that life’s origins were directed rather than undirected, and is not about God — so what was it doing in the Christian section? He said that he would pass my concerns along.

It frustrates me to see that a bookstore can exert its bias against the intelligent-design position by intentionally placing ID books in the Christian section.

One thing you can say about this is that it wasn’t a marketing decision. In the context of bookselling, the objective of marketing is to sell books. No one would think you’re going to sell more copies of Darwin’s Doubt by putting it on the wrong shelf and implicitly telling someone who wants to buy it that, unlike atheism, it’s not genuine science.

No, this is self-sabotage by someone at B&N who doesn’t like intelligent design and wanted to tick off book buyers (customers!) who feel otherwise. This person (or people) would rather irritate fans of Stephen Meyer and "send a message" about ID, and about atheism’s superior scientific credentials, than sell books!

It’s very sad that brick-and-mortar bookstores are falling victim to the online competition, with B&N stores closing everywhere you turn. Certainly this kind of behavior doesn’t help.

Image: Mike Kalasnik/Flickr.

I’m on Twitter. Follow me @d_klinghoffer.

David Klinghoffer

Senior Fellow and Editor, Evolution News
David Klinghoffer is a Senior Fellow at Discovery Institute and the editor of Evolution News & Science Today, the daily voice of Discovery Institute’s Center for Science & Culture, reporting on intelligent design, evolution, and the intersection of science and culture. Klinghoffer is also the author of six books, a former senior editor and literary editor at National Review magazine, and has written for the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Seattle Times, Commentary, and other publications. Born in Santa Monica, California, he graduated from Brown University in 1987 with an A.B. magna cum laude in comparative literature and religious studies. David lives near Seattle, Washington, with his wife and children.

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