As a follow-up to Monday’s story about the massive cuts at Waterstone’s, The Bookseller files another story, this one with no byline, saying lots of, well, mostly anonymous publishers think that what the huge and hugely influential bookseller is doing is fine — fine! — and that it’s “naive” to criticize them … as dozens of employees and former employees and others did in response to the earlier story about the massive layoffs.

Which has, it seems, generated just as many animated responses as the original story. ” One publisher said this and one publisher said that…why don’t these people ( are they people? ) identify themselves?” says one. “Waterstone’s management will continue to take their bonus’ and bleat on about ‘economic downturn,” says another.