Berkeley, CA

I am current in Berkeley, CA, which means that the view from my window looks something like this:Cal is a beautiful campus but a mysterious paradox. Specifically, It is a place of political sloganeering where the bumper sticker outmaneuvers the treatise, but where books are ubiquitous. While the selection may be one-sided, the sheer volume of literature here gives one pause to ask, "Don't they own televisions?"

This month's bestsellers occupy the positions of honor, just as at my usual bookstores back home, but Berkeley is also unrivaled in the ready availability of the classics. For the next few days, I will asking what makes people who read books so old stray so far from their culture's traditions. Keep reading as I continue my new series:
"Berkeley, Berkeley, Wherefore art thou Berkeley?"

Tomorrow's post:
"How the structure of higher education empowers the elite"