Staff Pick
You may be wondering if a Powell's reviewer can really be objective with regard to this this witty, irascible, big-hearted book. After all, of course I'd think that a wry diary by a Scottish bookseller would be a terrific read, right? However, in this case, you can trust me — I was reading and enjoying Shaun Bythell's hilarious bookshop Twitter feed long before I began at Powell's. So when this book arrived, I got it instantly and enjoyed it immensely. Bythell is an informative, passionate, and sometimes even sweet guide, and his language is often memorable, e.g., this description of a rumpled customer: "It appears as though someone has loaded his clothes into a cannon and fired them at him.” Highly recommended. Recommended By Bart K., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Shaun Bythell owns The Bookshop, Wigtown - Scotland's largest second-hand bookshop. It contains 100,000 books, spread over a mile of shelving, with twisting corridors and roaring fires, and all set in a beautiful, rural town by the edge of the sea. A book-lover's paradise? Well, almost ...
In these wry and hilarious diaries, Shaun provides an inside look at the trials and tribulations of life in the book trade, from struggles with eccentric customers to wrangles with his own staff, who include the ski-suit-wearing, bin-foraging Nicky. He takes us with him on buying trips to old estates and auction houses, recommends books (both lost classics and new discoveries), introduces us to the thrill of the unexpected find, and evokes the rhythms and charms of small-town life, always with a sharp and sympathetic eye.
Synopsis
Hilarious, wry, and charming, Shaun Bythell's tales of bookselling in remotest Scotland are sure to delight readers of all stripes. The funny and fascinating memoir of Shaun Bythell's experiences at the helm of The Bookshop, Scotland's largest second hand bookstore--and the delightfully unusual staff members, eccentric customers, and surreal buying trips that make up his life there.
Synopsis
A WRY AND HILARIOUS ACCOUNT OF LIFE AT A BOOKSHOP IN A REMOTE SCOTTISH VILLAGE
"Among the most irascible and amusing bookseller memoirs I've read." --Dwight Garner, New York Times "Warm, witty and laugh-out-loud funny..."--Daily Mail
The Diary of a Bookseller is Shaun Bythell's funny and fascinating memoir of a year in the life at the helm of The Bookshop, in the small village of Wigtown, Scotland--and of the delightfully odd locals, unusual staff, eccentric customers, and surreal buying trips that make up his life there as he struggles to build his business . . . and be polite . . .
When Bythell first thought of taking over the store, it seemed like a great idea: The Bookshop is Scotland's largest second-hand store, with over one hundred thousand books in a glorious old house with twisting corridors and roaring fireplaces, set in a tiny, beautiful town by the sea. It seemed like a book-lover's paradise . . .
Until Bythell did indeed buy the store.
In this wry and hilarious diary, he tells us what happened next--the trials and tribulations of being a small businessman; of learning that customers can be, um, eccentric; and of wrangling with his own staff of oddballs (such as ski-suit-wearing, dumpster-diving Nicky). And perhaps none are quirkier than the charmingly cantankerous bookseller Bythell himself turns out to be.
But then too there are the buying trips to old estates and auctions, with the thrill of discovery, as well as the satisfaction of pressing upon people the books that you love . . .
Slowly, with a mordant wit and keen eye, Bythell is seduced by the growing charm of small-town life, despite --or maybe because of--all the peculiar characters there.