Seven Kinds of People You Find in Bookshops

by Shaun Bythell

Overview

A cantankerously funny view of books and the people who love them. It does take all kinds and through the misanthropic eyes of a very grumpy bookseller, we see them all—from the “Person Who Doesn't Know What They Want (But Thinks It Might Have a Blue Cover)” to the “Parents Secretly After Free Childcare.”

From behind the counter, Shaun Bythell catalogs the customers who roam his shop in Wigtown, Scotland. There’s the Expert (divided into subspecies from the Bore to the Helpful Person), the Young Family (ranging from the Exhausted to the Aspirational), Occultists (from Conspiracy Theorist to Craft Woman).

Then there's the Loiterer (including the Erotica Browser and the Self-Published Author), the Bearded Pensioner (including the Lyrca Clad), and the The Not-So-Silent Traveller (the Whistler, Sniffer, Hummer, Farter, and Tutter). Two bonus sections include Staff and, finally, Perfect Customer—all add up to one of the funniest book about books you’ll ever find.

Shaun Bythell (author of Confessions of a Bookseller) and his mordantly unique observational eye make this perfect for anyone who loves books and bookshops.

“Bythell is having fun and it’s infectious.”—Scotsman

“Virtuosic venting ... misanthropy with bursts of sweetness.”―Guardian

“All the ingredients for a gentle human comedy are here, as soothing as a bag of boiled sweets and just as tempting to dip into.”—Literary Review

“Any reader finding this book in their stocking on Christmas morning should feel lucky...contains plenty to amuse—an excellent diversion”—Bookmunch

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781567926934
Publisher:	David R. Godine, Publisher
Publication date:	08/27/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	66
Sales rank:	303,394
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Shaun Bythell is the owner of The Bookshop, the largest second-hand bookshop in Scotland. He is the author of Confessions of a Bookseller, also published by Godine. Shaun lives in Wigtown, Scotland.

Table of Contents

Introduction 11

1 Genus: Peritus (expert) 15

2 Genus: Familia Juvenisis (young family) 31

3 Genus: Homo qui maleficus amat (occultist) 41

4 Genus: Homo qui desidet (loiterer) 55

5 Genus: Senex cum barba (bearded pensioner) 71

6 Genus: Viator non tacitus (the not-so-silent traveller) 85

7 Genus: Parentum historiae studiosus (family historian) 95

Bonus 99

8 Genus: Operarii (staff) 101

Postscript 113

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Shaun Bythell

“Among the most irascible and amusing bookseller memoirs I've ever read.”—Dwight Garner, New York Times

“…amusing and often cantankerous stories [that] bibliophiles will delight in, and occasionally wince at...”—Publishers Weekly

“Bythell writes with biting humor . . . he is a man on a mission, and year seen through his eyes convinces the reader that is a mission worthy of undertaking.”—Chicago Tribune

“Bythell remains an unwavering correspondent whose daily rambles reminds us of the joy in real bookshops.”—Fine Books & Collections Magazine

“A bookseller in Wigtown, Scotland, recounts a year in his life as a small-town dealer of secondhand books....Irascibly droll and sometimes elegiac, this is an engaging account of bookstore life from the vanishing front lines of the brick-and-mortar retail industry. Bighearted, sobering, and humane.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Bythell’s wicked pen and keen eye for the absurd recall what comic Ricky Gervais might say if he ran a bookshop.”—Wall Street Journal

“Bythell is a skillful writer . . . he creates a full, appealing world populated with colorful characters. The Scottish landscape—geese flying over the salt marsh, the meandering river where he likes to fish—is gorgeous . . . an endearing and thoughtful book.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune

From the Publisher

Narrator Peter Kenney picks up on the playful undercurrent running throughout this audiobook about bibliophiles who frequent brick-and-mortar bookstores. He becomes the sarcastic yet relatable voice of the author, Scottish bookseller Bythell, whose observations of his customers pepper this memoir of bookselling. Listeners will have fun because Kenney is having fun with the spot-on descriptions of buyers' quirks. Classified as various species, each persona is presented as if providing a description of a scientific specimen. Kenney makes the most of these parodies. He captures Bythell's persona as a lovable, judgmental bookselling busybody through a lively performance presented with the breathlessness of one friend confiding in another. Listeners will be laughing out loud throughout and recognize many of the species being described. M.R. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

DECEMBER 2020 - AudioFile