Blaine DeSantis's Reviews > The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore

Bookstores and bookshops, yes, they are the subject of a book as well as movies. Most times when you read books about bookstores or watch a movie which involves a bookstore you are going be looking at a romantic comedy or cozy mystery. But, into the breach comes author Evan Friss, who actually gives us a non-fiction book about the history of the American bookstore. Yes we're not here to find romance and passion, but instead Friss takes us on a whirlwind tour of the American bookshop from its earliest beginnings up to its current status. This is a fascinating book, one that can be read chapter by chapter as he moves us slowly, but surely through the development of the American bookstore. He takes us back to one of the first, if not the first bookstores in America and that was Ben Franklin's bookstore in Philadelphia. Friss points our that in the beginning most printers/publishers also were bookstore owners. People would come in and chat there would be a free flow of ideas, but the books that were initially sold were either from England or had to do with religion, teaching, or philosophy regarding what became known as the American revolution. He moves us to The Old Corner in Boston, which also had that printing/publication, and book selling area. It was a place where some of the leading thinkers of the early 19th century used to gather. And from there we continue for another 10 other chapters that chart the development of the bookstore. Bookstores in department stores, bookstores on wheels, independent bookstores, sidewalk bookstores, large bookstore chains, Amazon bookstores, and e-books. Yes, Friss runs the gambit of the history of the bookstore, and even as I write, this history is being remade as Costco no longer will sell books in their facilities, and for the first time ever for a six month period of time there were more audible books sold in America than e-books. And the bookstore has to sit there and try to adapt. It is a marvelous story, and is one filled with a lot of quirky characters and also a lot of hope that what we call independent bookstores still have a place in America. A well done book, on a topic that few people have written about, but which most all of us have encountered somewhere along our lives. And while I myself might enjoy buying my books online, I have to admit there's nothing better than going into a bookstore and browsing through the aisles at all the new or used books that are for sale. 4.5****