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A Reader's History
by Jorge Carrión
Bookshops is both a manifesto and a love letter to these spaces that transform readers' lives.
Jorge Carrion collects bookshops: from Gotham Book Mart and the Strand Bookstore in New York City to City Lights Bookshop and Green Apple Books in San Francisco and all the bright spots in between (Prairie Lights, Tattered Cover, and countless others). In this thought-provoking, vivid, and entertaining essay, Carrion meditates on the importance of the bookshop as a cultural and intellectual space. Filled with anecdotes from the histories of some of the famous (and not-so-famous) shops he visits on his travels, thoughtful considerations of challenges faced by bookstores, and fascinating digressions on their political and social impact.
"Starred Review. Carrión explores the fine lines between pilgrimage destination, touristy gimmick, and decent bookshop. This is the perfect book for those who feel compelled to visit every bookstore they see." - Publishers Weekly
"An insightful, educational, and erudite paean to bookshops." - Kirkus
"...a combination love letter, historical document, and analysis..." - Quill & Quire
"Bookshops is the best kind of biblio-mystery, in which a cultivated and civilized detective guides us through the labyrinth of the world's stores, stopping to talk for a while, before plunging off on the next fascinating diversion. Jorge Carrión brings page-turning excitement to the extended essay form." - Iain Sinclai
This information about Bookshops was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Jorge Carrion is a writer and literary critic. His published works include essays, novellas, novels and travel writing, and his articles have appeared in National Geographic and Lonely Planet Magazine.
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