Analyzing Collins's Essay 'The End Of Civilization'

There are many literary spaces that one person can go to in order to experience literature whether it is going into a superstore, public library or other independent bookstores. In Collins essay on "The End of Civilization (Or At Least Civilized Reading) As You Know It", he analyzes whether or not the installation and presence of superstores or online book stores have an effect on literature and the effects it has on the cultures of popular readers and elitists (Collins). In order to investigate and analyze the similar procedure Collins had on superstores (Barnes & Noble), I went to two different bookstores in order to compare what literature had an effect within them. In addition to that, compare it with a definition of "literature" or "poetry"

The first section that was in front of me when I walked in was that there was a huge selection of fiction and literature, which means that there is a heavy emphasis on literature; the stores want literature to capture the shopper's attention with big, but rather plain gray signs that have "Fiction & Literature", there was nothing artistically attractive about the signs. What was the most interesting for me was the pairing of the different "genres" or "subsections" of literature. First is the pairing of fiction and literature. This, by far, had the most diverse books within the section as it included books ranging from romance, classics, poetry, historical fiction/nonfiction, murder mysteries, science fiction, and fantasy. As to why I feel why that fiction and literature are paired the way they are is due to the blurring between the two. How does one classify fiction and literature? Can literature be fiction, or can fiction be literature? It's gotten more difficult to separate the two in the modern age now that they are one in the same and are used interchangeably, hence why fiction and literature is often paired up in displayed together. What is most peculiar though are the different types of books that were