Lewis Buzbee
wants to tell you a love story.
It involves
shelves, cash registers and the most important of them all - words and the
tomes that hold them. For this is a love of bookstores and us.
The author
involves us in philosophical musings regarding the concept of a book in itself,
what makes it tick, what makes it work for sometimes one and sometimes the
multitude.
In short,
how is a book ‘sold’?
Also, there
is an increasing understanding of the personal connect between an individual
and the ream of pages in his or her hand, browsing through them transferred to
a new world. Where you don’t need to be with people to find something that
makes you smile, even when you are in crowded places.
You learn to
be happy being alone among others.
The author
takes us through his personal journey of bookselling remembering early days of
reading The Grapes of Wrath and being mesmerized by John Steinbeck, to the lure
of working among books from small to big platforms - the people he met and
befriended, the things he saw and most of all, the places he loved.
Alongside
this, he traces the journey of the bookseller from ancient times, as the mode
of literature changed and the trade evolved. It's an amazing journey of
recollection and fondness that he tells which birthed his love. We traverse
from modern day San Francisco to China and Rome, hitting milestones of evolution
both for the custodian of books and the books themselves. It’s an illuminating understanding
But the true
light comes from his own journey, as we understand one can be rich in ways
other than money (for bookselling is rarely a for profit effort) and that
Buzbee loved every moment of it.
A beautiful
love story if any. And one I took to heart very easily. For who here isn't in
love with blocks of pages and silent shelves.
So, I give
it 9 out of 10.
+The
wonderful chronological journey
+A keen
insight into the bookselling business
+Talks about
a love of books
-The historical
portion isn’t as engrossing as the memoir portion.
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