The Seminary Co-op Bookstore Relaunches The Front Table

Chicago’s Seminary Co-op, one of the best bookstores in the country, is now offering an online version of The Front Table, a book magazine edited by Jeff Waxman. This is very good news, for anyone interested in not only university press titles but books in general.

The site just went live but already looks very promising and offers some great features, including a book review section and a variety of reading lists. The first reading list was provided by Steve Tomasula, novelist and Co-op member.

There is also a section called “Editors Speak,” where literary and scholarly editors will contribute brief and familiar pieces about the books they’ve edited.  Rodney Powell, an editor at the University of Chicago Press, contributed a look at their recent book, Scorsese by Ebert earlier this month and in a few weeks, E.J. Van Lanen (Open Letter Books) will give a personal look at his work on Dubravka Ugresic’s new essay collection, Nobody’s Home.

Also on tap for the site is a fully scannable virtual snapshot of the famous Front Table display at the Seminary Co-op. As anyone who has visited the Co-op can tell you, the books on display at the store are a kind of guide to the most interesting and exciting scholarly and literary work available.

Full disclosure: I used to be the editor of “The Front Table” when it was a print publication. I am very glad to see it being relaunched and have already bookmarked it!