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A review by katykelly
Confessions of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell
5.0
Second visit to the Bookshop, a delight for readers.
"At 2pm, an elderly man asked the most superb question: 'Can you answer questions?' The only two logical responses to that can be 'Yes' or complete silence."
'Diary of a Bookseller' was an utterly enchanting, hilarious and illuminative behind-the-scenes in the world of a bookshop and the people who work there. We were introduced to the real-life owner (and protagonist in his own writing), Shaun, his staff, his customers, his daily life and tasks.
In this second, we return to Shaun's world, though it isn't necessarily a continuation, and can be read as a standalone.
Starting each month with a passage from a centuries-old novel about a bookshop, we see the similarities (and stark differences) to today's world of books, how books are viewed. A few times it caught me out and I thought these passages WERE Bythell!
Set up as a year-long diary, Bythell takes us from the cold of January and the days of few customers, the trials of online selling and posting, the travelling to potential sellers' houses in all weathers, to the madness of summer book fairs, and the eccentricities of staff and customers alike.
With dry wit, we get to see Shaun's day-to-day struggles with humanity in all its amusing or frustrating forms:
"A customer came to the counter and asked if we had any miniature books so I directed him to the cabinet labelled 'Miniature Books'. He looked at it, then back at me and said, 'Yes, I've already looked through that.' This often happens - people appear to imagine that we have a secret stash of 'the good stuff' tha t we don't really want to sell."
His own sardonic take on life is also refreshing and hard not to smile at:
"As I was pricing books up, I found a bookplate in an early set of Dickens with the name Fanny Strutt on it. From some reason I imagined the Fanny Strugg being a 1950s American dance craze."
His co-workers could be characters written for a book, lots of idiosyncrasies and warm flaws/quirks between them, including the European summer worker who could fit right into 'A Short History of Tractors'. Regular customers are also welcome comic material. Even the one-offs who try to haggle or who ask ridiculous questions.
Personally, as a librarian and book lover for all my life, I found the insight into the world of a seller of books deeply interesting. The stats we see snippets of - daily customers, takings, stock prices, how books sell online - it's a glimpse into a world I know from the other side. And it did make me sad seeing how it's likely that shop owners like Bythell are treading water and struggling to stay float in a world of big corporation competition, with his knowledge and passion for the printed word.
Bythell's personal life is referenced throughout, he doesn't shy away from showing us glimpses of the pains in his own world, the heartache, the enjoyable hobbies and friendships outside of the shop. Seeing this aspect made him a real person, more than the observer of human foibles the book sometimes encourages you to see.
I'd love to think Bythell will come up with a third volume of a diarised bookseller's life; he's writing in changing times and his perspective could well be one of the only artefacts showing future generations what an actual bookshop was like, one day far in the future.
For any book lover. Reader. Fan of the high street over online shopping.
With thanks to Netgalley for the sample reading copy.
"At 2pm, an elderly man asked the most superb question: 'Can you answer questions?' The only two logical responses to that can be 'Yes' or complete silence."
'Diary of a Bookseller' was an utterly enchanting, hilarious and illuminative behind-the-scenes in the world of a bookshop and the people who work there. We were introduced to the real-life owner (and protagonist in his own writing), Shaun, his staff, his customers, his daily life and tasks.
In this second, we return to Shaun's world, though it isn't necessarily a continuation, and can be read as a standalone.
Starting each month with a passage from a centuries-old novel about a bookshop, we see the similarities (and stark differences) to today's world of books, how books are viewed. A few times it caught me out and I thought these passages WERE Bythell!
Set up as a year-long diary, Bythell takes us from the cold of January and the days of few customers, the trials of online selling and posting, the travelling to potential sellers' houses in all weathers, to the madness of summer book fairs, and the eccentricities of staff and customers alike.
With dry wit, we get to see Shaun's day-to-day struggles with humanity in all its amusing or frustrating forms:
"A customer came to the counter and asked if we had any miniature books so I directed him to the cabinet labelled 'Miniature Books'. He looked at it, then back at me and said, 'Yes, I've already looked through that.' This often happens - people appear to imagine that we have a secret stash of 'the good stuff' tha t we don't really want to sell."
His own sardonic take on life is also refreshing and hard not to smile at:
"As I was pricing books up, I found a bookplate in an early set of Dickens with the name Fanny Strutt on it. From some reason I imagined the Fanny Strugg being a 1950s American dance craze."
His co-workers could be characters written for a book, lots of idiosyncrasies and warm flaws/quirks between them, including the European summer worker who could fit right into 'A Short History of Tractors'. Regular customers are also welcome comic material. Even the one-offs who try to haggle or who ask ridiculous questions.
Personally, as a librarian and book lover for all my life, I found the insight into the world of a seller of books deeply interesting. The stats we see snippets of - daily customers, takings, stock prices, how books sell online - it's a glimpse into a world I know from the other side. And it did make me sad seeing how it's likely that shop owners like Bythell are treading water and struggling to stay float in a world of big corporation competition, with his knowledge and passion for the printed word.
Bythell's personal life is referenced throughout, he doesn't shy away from showing us glimpses of the pains in his own world, the heartache, the enjoyable hobbies and friendships outside of the shop. Seeing this aspect made him a real person, more than the observer of human foibles the book sometimes encourages you to see.
I'd love to think Bythell will come up with a third volume of a diarised bookseller's life; he's writing in changing times and his perspective could well be one of the only artefacts showing future generations what an actual bookshop was like, one day far in the future.
For any book lover. Reader. Fan of the high street over online shopping.
With thanks to Netgalley for the sample reading copy.