In an exploration of Ann Arbor’s robust and diverse literary scene, The Michigan Daily’s Business beat spoke with seven downtown bookstores. Each article in ‘The literary culture of downtown Ann Arbor’ project aims to capture each store’s unique offerings and contribution to the community. Read the other articles here.
Located at 118 E. Washington St., Third Mind Books takes a specialized approach to bookselling in Ann Arbor, offering first-edition and rare Beat Generation literature among other vintage books and literary paraphernalia. The Beat Generation was an American literary subculture in the 1940s and 1950s characterized by the rejection of societal norms and themes of spirituality, sexual liberation and freedom and experimental writing styles. Though the establishment has only existed in brick-and-mortar form since June 2022, head curator and founder Arthur Nusbaum has been conducting operations online since 2010, garnering a global customer base.
The bookstore derives its namesake from the novel “The Third Mind,” written by William S. Burroughs and Brion Gysin.
In an interview with The Michigan Daily, LSA junior Joe Provenzano, Third Mind Books vice president, explained why Beat authors and their publications have maintained their significance over the past 70 years.
“I think it is especially important to people of our generation because they don’t realize how influential these individuals are in securing the freedoms that we have now — this entire generation of free thinkers who really broke down a lot of barriers for us,” Provenzo said. It’s easy to take them for granted because these freedoms seem so evident now.”
However, the specialized area of focus isn’t the only feature that sets it apart from other booksellers in Ann Arbor. In an interview with The Daily, Wes Bostick, employee and event coordinator, said the intensive curation process each collectible goes through is another unique aspect of the store.
“We put up about 30 new items every week, and what we do with those items is we take each one and do a pretty intensive amount of research on that given item,” Bostick said. “Not just the basics of like, ‘Okay, where was it published? When? Who the author was.’ But also, like, ‘What did this particular book or literary mag mean in its time? What does it mean as a collectible?’”
Each team member writes about five curatorial reports a week on antiquarian and first-edition literature as well as other rare collectibles they sell, like posters and various ephemera. Provenzano said the sociopolitical contexts in which these objects were created is what allows them to maintain their significance.
“If you can say, ‘This is attached to a revolutionary breakthrough in American prose and to a vision of what is possible in literature and culture,’ if you can kind of attach it to these larger things, then that first edition becomes infused with that history,” Provenzano said. “That is kind of the atmospheric obsession that happens and makes collectors buy these things.’”
While the Beat Generation is often geographically associated with New York City and San Francisco, Bostick said the movement and its notable figures had a major influence in Ann Arbor. This included John Sinclair, an activist tied to Ann Arbor’s Hash Bash and the Detroit Artists Workshop.
“They meant a lot to the literary scene throughout Ann Arbor history.… Without those guys, you don’t get something like the Detroit Artists Workshop, and John Sinclair and Hash Bash,” Bostick said. “Hash bash itself is deeply tied to the Beat movement, which not a lot of people know about.”
Provenzano said the bookstore’s location in Ann Arbor is also noteworthy because of its proximity to the University of Michigan.
“One huge area of value is that we have the University,” Provenzano said. “John Sinclair talked about establishing a semi-permanent community of intellectuals, artists and free thinkers that could use the energy of this place, the intellectual energy, the people that come through here as a base for revolutionary fun. The importance of a place like Ann Arbor, or Third Mind Books in Ann Arbor, is to continue this.”
To foster this community, the bookstore also doubles as an event venue. Provenzano and Bostick are the primary event coordinators, planning and hosting open mics events, launch parties for local writers and book readings and signings, among other gatherings.Third Mind Book’s employee Jillian Stichler said in an interview with The Michigan Daily the open mic events hosted by Third Mind Books help to garner a literary culture in Ann Arbor that is accessible to all.
“I think that the open mics and hopefully more events that we’re doing are what set us apart a little bit,” Stichler said. “That it’s just a way to give the literary community in Ann Arbor a soapbox for one night. One night a month, anybody can come up. Nobody gets told no.”
Daily Staff Reporter Sophie Frank can be reached at sophieaf@umich.edu.
