In Praise of Good Bookstores
TLDR: “Nice meditation on the purpose of bookstores”
This is not a practical book. It’s just a nice reflection on bookstores and what they mean to people.
It was written in the context of the Chicago Seminary Co-op Bookstore, which I had never heard of, but which is apparently quite popular. And it’s a “pure” bookstore, meaning it sells nothing else.
The author waxes nostalgic for an age of bookselling that might never have existed. I mean, was there a time when bookselling was a sustainable business model? I feel like booksellers have always lived hand-to-mouth.
The book is divided up into chapters, each of which represent some aspect of a bookstore:
- Space
- Abundance
- Value
- Community
- Time
There are some lovely quotes in here:
…the good bookstore is about interiority. Deep in the browse, many of us move through the space as though we were inside the Mind itself – of the universe or God, depending one’s fancy.
I love the phrase “deep in the browse.” I’ve been there, certainly.
A bookstore too, it turns out, can give you permission. […] permission to be among books outside of an institution of learning.
At one point, the author even floats a model of supporting bookstores as non-profits that just enhance a community and should therefore be funded.
…the time has come to no longer apologize for the inefficiencies inherent in good bookselling. […] We must recognize and then rectify the considerable devaluing of the work of booksellers in building spaces that contribute to a more learned, more understanding, and more fulfilled populace.
It only it were so.
Book Data
- Author
- Jeff Deutsch
- Year
- Pages
- 216
- Acquired
- Not recorded
- Open Library
- OL26522293W
- I have not read this book.
- A softcover copy of this book is currently in my home library.