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

Every bookstore is, in a way, political.

Overall, a rather interesting overview of the evolution of books, primarily as the backbone of community. The true bibliophile will find lots of interest in these pages - even if he / she (like myself) might have preferred more of the genuine human interest stuff (i.e., more inspiring info on those who actually owned / operated stores), as opposed to the less-enthralling information re: street booksellers or faceless entities like Amazon, etc. 

The latter tends to make the book's second half not so much a bit of a slog but, nevertheless, a bit less compelling. Granted, it's clear Friss aimed for a wider, anthropological view of how books - over the centuries - have been used and abused; offered as either sources of enlightenment or more like vulgar commodities. 

Still, the chapters holding more of a personal touch, shall we say, are mainly the ones that make 'The Book Shop' a warm and fuzzy treat; often if not always. 

Nothing is ever completely warm and fuzzy in the book biz - even if many store owners would certainly prefer it that way (note the final chapter that is practically - and delightfully - devoted to author Ann Patchett's desire to take on the superstores and Amazon, which she managed quite successfully). 

Patchett's passion is matched earlier in the book's well-researched chapters on focus stores, like the largely militant Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop and Drum & Spear. The chapters on these two enterprising establishments are actually exciting. 

'The Book Shop' opens with perhaps its best chapter, highlighting Ben Franklin and his own tireless (to say the least) adventures in the book trade (among others), as he set the national tone:

When Franklin first settled in Philadelphia, he felt something amiss: "There was not a good bookseller's shop." That wasn't just true of Philadelphia. In 1719, a visitor to New York pitied the "but one little Bookseller's Shop." That was one more than Virginia, Maryland and the Carolinas had.

Franklin, a fixer by nature, was determined to change the landscape. ... Improvement - at both the personal and national levels - required character building, which demanded reading.

Lots of info tidbits are strewn along the way, i.e.,: for almost all early readers, the only household book to speak of was the Bible; Thomas Paine's 'Common Sense' was the nation's first bestseller; most early bookshops were in the Northeast, leaving states like Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky and Oklahoma among the disinterested. (Hmm... what *can* it mean?)

For the more politically inclined, there are sections covering things like the bizarre, Nazi-based Aryan Book Store and documentation re: how the government (in the '50s) would crackdown on Socialist-leaning stores, stamping them as beehives of Communism.   

I worked in an independent bookstore twice, both times for several years. I clearly recall the thrill of fostered community evident in both places I worked (first in NYC, then in NE - where customers constantly complained about the blatantly impersonal nature of Barnes & Noble). Memories of those places echoed as I read this book, esp. the sections underscoring the simple loving and sharing, the camaraderie borne of books.