In new book, Ann Arbor bookstore’s public typewriter a source of wit and wisdom

Stateside’s conversation with Michael Gustafson, co-owner of Literati Bookstore in Ann Arbor and author of "Notes from a Public Typewriter."

On the first day that Michael Gustafson and his wife Hilary opened Literati Bookstore in the heart of downtown Ann Arbor, something possessed him to place a typewriter on a table for anyone to use.

That was in the spring of 2013. Since then, Gustafson’s “public typewriter experiment” has yielded a treasure trove of notes: some droll, some heartbreaking, some witty, some poignant.

With Oliver Uberti, Gustafson compiled many of the notes over the past few years into a new book, titled Notes from a Public Typewriter. Gustafson joined Stateside to discuss how the idea for a public typewriter came to be, what the notes on the typewriter have taught him, and how his independent bookstore has defeated naysayers’ expectations.

Listen above.

Support for arts and culture coverage comes in part from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs.

This story was originally broadcast April 9th, 2018. 

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