Amazon’s bookstore in Chicago is closing — ‘Boo-hoo’ and don’t let the algorithms hit you on the way out

CHICAGO — As I left Amazon Books on Southport Avenue for the last time — it’s closing March 19, after sitting there for five years, cold and vague, an enigmatic cultural artifact, never loved, requested or wished for — I stood on the sidewalk, took notes, and a woman in a Lululemon zip-up asked me what I was writing. I said, this Amazon Books, it’s closing.

She cackled.

“No! Boo-hoo! Jeff Bezos! So sorry! Maybe reopen in space!”