I love to read. When my daughter recommended Evan Friss’s “The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore,” I was excited to dive in. And yet I have to admit I was also thinking, “A whole book about the history of American bookstores?”
This 309-page book was very good. Every chapter is a stand-alone story and we meet a colorful cast of characters throughout. Even a resident cat or two.
We meet Benjamin Franklin in 1718, and in 2024 Ann Patchett, novelist and owner of Parnassus in Nashville. And Craig Rodwell in 1968, owner of Drum and Spear a black-owned and, as the founders called it, a movement bookstore in Northwest D.C. And we meet so many more.
These chapters are filled with wonderful stories about bookstores that emerge and how community grows around them. And about their amazing owners and booksellers. Bookstores are cozy, messy, small, big, bright, dark, there is no one type of bookstore. And there is definitely not one type of bookseller.
And these are stories of resilience. Bookselling has always been a challenging business with low profit margins. And through time the Depression, war, Amazon and Covid have made it even more challenging. Passion and perseverance are powerful. Some bookstores succeed long-term and many don’t.
This book affirms the enormous impact bookstores have had, and continue to have, on our culture, our politics, our sense of self, our activism. We’re influenced by which books are stocked and which book a bookseller recommends. And even how books are displayed so we can discover just the book we need.
I have one minor criticism. At times Friss dove into more detail than I needed. This book is a keeper. I savored the stories and I loved knowing a new nugget was awaiting.
“The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore,” can be found at our local libraries.
