The bigger and more efficient a business is, the less I like it. (I'm one of those snobby people who will not set foot in Wal-Mart. This is largely because I try not to set foot in any stores, not because I have so much money I can totally eschew bargain shopping. I do my bargain shopping at St. Vincent de Paul.) So it only stands to reason that I would like small, independent, quirky publishers who probably don't make a lot of money. I like Soft Skull, for instance. And I totally LOVE Paul Dry Books, which is based in Philadelphia. Why do I love Paul Dry Books? Because of books like Murray Browne's The Book Shopper: A Life in Review.
It's a totally fun little book memoir, by a man who seems like he's lived a quite fulfilled (if not always happy or content or untroubled) life, if not a hugely rewarding one financially. The book covers exactly the subject it promises: Browne talks about shopping for books, moving books, finding books and authors he loves, keeping or selling books, and talking about books with others--in short, all the topics that real book people can talk about for hours on end. There's nothing fancy here; in fact, his prose is delightfully straightforward and unfussy. Consider:
"For those of us who want to do a lot of perusing in a short time, the physical space of a bookstore works to our advantage. I can scan a bookshelf chock full of books in a minute or two, which I can't do on the Internet no matter how speedy my connection. If I see a book that interests me, I can pull the book from the shelf and give the table of contents, the index (if nonfiction*), and several paragraphs the quick once over, taking a special note of the author's style, which is a major selling point for me." (p. 42.)
There's nothing all that special about that paragraph, but it does indicate someone who takes his book reading and searching pretty seriously, and that's really all I need to love an author. (He offers another chapter titled "Book Lovers are Not Necessarily People Lovers," and I love him for that too.) So check this one out; I think I rank it somewhere slightly above Larry McMurtry's memoir Books and slightly below Lewis Buzbee's The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop.
And do spend a little time looking at Paul Dry's catalog. Two other of their titles that I loved were Gabriel Zaid's So Many Books: Reading and Publishing in an Age of Abundance and the wonderful photography/investigative/travel book The Rocky Stories, which actually made me want to travel to Philadelphia. Have a good weekend, all.
The loss of the physical bookstore really bites. The internet, while powerful, can't do everything. One of those things is browsing. And browsing at B&N or Borders is not nearly as pleasurable as it once was. sigh grumble grumble grumble
Posted by: Robert Brown | 02 October 2009 at 10:03 AM
Agreed, Robert, browsing is one of the world's last pleasures. I feel about Internet book shopping the way Martin Millar does about many things: "Modern world continues to disappoint."
Yet another good reason to keep libraries around. At least they can be browsed, and then you could go buy what you want from Amazon, which will probably soon be our only source for books. Or Goomazon, since I figure Google and Amazon are going to merge and take over the world any day now.
Posted by: Citizen Reader | 02 October 2009 at 10:07 AM
Great book recommendations. Just placed an order at Powell's for The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop and two others found while shopping: Biblioholism Literary Addiction Rev Edition by Raabe, and The Fear of Books by Holbrook. Thanks.
Posted by: John Miedema | 02 October 2009 at 11:00 AM
John,
ooh, "Biblioholism..." and "the fear of books." Never heard of either, now must get both. Thank YOU!
I hope you like the "yellow-lighted bookshop." I don't think it was for everyone but for some reason I just loved it, loved it, loved it. I think the author had me at the title--it makes me feel like dropping everything and finding a cozy corner in which to read. (Great cover too; kudos to Graywolf Press all the way around.)
Posted by: Citizen Reader | 02 October 2009 at 11:17 AM
Did you skip "Lonesome Dove" and go straight to McMurtry's "Books?" If so: typical CR!
Posted by: Robin | 02 October 2009 at 01:41 PM
I hope someday to give you a reason to love my publishing house. It's taking me longer to get it together than I'd hoped, and will take longer still, but someday....
It'll be called The Small Inefficient Press
Posted by: Robert Brown | 02 October 2009 at 08:15 PM
Thanks for the recommendations! I think I'm going to order 64 Sonnets of Keats. I wish I had known about Paul Dry's when we lived near Philly for two years -- the Philly related stuff look great. You should go there someday, totally.
Posted by: Valerie | 02 October 2009 at 11:03 PM
How funny, The Book Shopper is sitting on my desk in a random pile of books I've taken off the shelves to read sooner than later. Paul Dry has a great, eclectic catalog, very worth poking around.
Posted by: lisa peet | 03 October 2009 at 08:50 PM
Oh...I'd love to read The Book Shopper. And date him, too...
Posted by: bybee | 04 October 2009 at 07:29 AM
Bert,
I totally can't wait to be a freelance proofreader for The Small Inefficient Press. You're going to pay the big bucks, right?
Valerie,
Thank you for the vote of confidence in Philly! I do still want to take a weekend there someday.
Lisa,
Oh, do read it. It's a lot of fun. I agree with you--Paul Dry is all over the place, which is exactly what a great indie publisher should be.
Bybee,
Amen. (Although, he does point out that book people are not necessarily people people...he might be kind of challenging to date--and I think he's taken, too, darn it.)
Posted by: Citizen Reader | 04 October 2009 at 09:54 AM
Dear Citizen Reader,
Thank you for the good words you wrote about *The Book Shopper.*
You got it in just the way I hoped readers would.
Paul Dry
Posted by: Paul Dry | 13 October 2009 at 07:15 AM
Wow, Paul Dry!
Thank you for commenting. It was my pleasure to write good words about "The Book Shopper"--I really enjoyed it.
Best of luck to you in all future endeavors, and thanks for publishing such great books. I've lost track of how many people I've recommended "The Rocky Stories" to--a real classic.
Posted by: Citizen Reader | 16 October 2009 at 02:06 PM
I am adding this one to my wish list. You should check out Anne Fadiman's Ex Libris. One of her chapters is about Fadiman and her husband finally combining their libraries after several years of marriage.
Posted by: Thomas | 09 November 2009 at 09:07 AM
Thomas,
It's a great book, and Paul Dry is a great publisher.
I think I've tried to get through "Ex Libris" before and something about Fadiman turned me off. Maybe I was just in the wrong mood--it may be time to try it again. Thanks for the reminder! Seven years in, Mr. CR and I haven't so much combined book collections as we have comandeered bookshelves for ourselves. How would I make (good-natured) fun of all his genre paperbacks if they weren't in one easy-to-find location?
Posted by: Citizen Reader | 16 November 2009 at 01:47 PM