The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore, by Evan Friss
I loved reading about the history of bookstores in the United States, beginning with Ben Franklin, at age 12, working in his older brother James' printing office in Boston (my current hometown). Then there were those bookstore in NYC. I remember taking the train to 'the city' and wandering about Brentano's. My daughter, who works at Barnes & Noble, keeps me updated on how corporate bookstores are fairing these days (very well).
Bookstores are personal; they are also complex entities.
Friess discusses the current complexity of bookselling: buying from on-line bookstores, AKA Amazon; the current trend of independent bookstores, with a shout out to Parnassus, author Ann Pachett's indie; the current interplay between ordering on line and wandering about a bookstore and purchasing at the cash register; reading on devices; and more.
The Bookshop doesn't get into libraries; in fact, I don't think they are even mentioned. As someone who lives across from the town library and uses it as my main source of fiction and non-fiction reading, I wasn't disappointed. Friss sticks to his topic, bookstores, with engagement from beginning to end I'd say he has written a page turner!
I loved reading about the history of bookstores in the United States, beginning with Ben Franklin, at age 12, working in his older brother James' printing office in Boston (my current hometown). Then there were those bookstore in NYC. I remember taking the train to 'the city' and wandering about Brentano's. My daughter, who works at Barnes & Noble, keeps me updated on how corporate bookstores are fairing these days (very well).
Bookstores are personal; they are also complex entities.
Friess discusses the current complexity of bookselling: buying from on-line bookstores, AKA Amazon; the current trend of independent bookstores, with a shout out to Parnassus, author Ann Pachett's indie; the current interplay between ordering on line and wandering about a bookstore and purchasing at the cash register; reading on devices; and more.
The Bookshop doesn't get into libraries; in fact, I don't think they are even mentioned. As someone who lives across from the town library and uses it as my main source of fiction and non-fiction reading, I wasn't disappointed. Friss sticks to his topic, bookstores, with engagement from beginning to end I'd say he has written a page turner!
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