The Misadventures of a Rare Bookseller
by Oliver Darkshire
Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Mar 2023
256 pages
Genre: Biography/Memoir
Publication Information
By turns unhinged and earnest, Once Upon a Tome is the colorful story of life in one of the world's oldest bookshops and a love letter to the benign, unruly world of antiquarian bookselling, where to be uncommon or strange is the best possible compliment.
Welcome to Sotheran's, one of the oldest bookshops in the world, with its weird and wonderful clientele, suspicious cupboards, unlabeled keys, poisoned books, and some things that aren't even books, presided over by one deeply eccentric apprentice.
Some years ago, Oliver Darkshire stepped into the hushed interior of Henry Sotheran Ltd (est. 1761) to apply for a job. Allured by the smell of old books and the temptation of a management-approved afternoon nap, Darkshire was soon unteetering stacks of first editions and placating the store's resident ghost (the late Mr. Sotheran, hit by a tram).
A novice in this ancient, potentially haunted establishment, Darkshire describes Sotheran's brushes with history (Dickens, the Titanic), its joyous disorganization, and the unspoken rules of its gleefully old-fashioned staff, whose mere glance may cause the computer to burst into flames. As Darkshire gains confidence and experience, he shares trivia about ancient editions and explores the strange space that books occupy in our lives—where old books often have strong sentimental value, but rarely a commercial one.
"[W]itty and heartwarming…. Darkshire's sunny temperament and respect for the trade will resonate with book lovers and fellow booksellers." - Publishers Weekly
"A delightful portrait of 'the ugly stepchild of the antiques business or the art world.'" - Kirkus Reviews
"Peculiarly hilarious!" - William Gibson
"Brim[s] with self-effacing charm." - Caitlin Doughty
"Laugh-out-loud." - Garth Nix
"Utterly charming." - Tom Holland
"A browse through these hilarious pages is just as satisfying as a browse in a good bookshop." - Danny Caine, Raven Book Store, Lawrence, Kansas
This information about Once Upon a Tome 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.
Oliver Darkshire (@DeathByBadger) is an antiquarian bookseller at Henry Sotheran Ltd, and the voice of @Sotherans twitter account. He lives in Manchester, England, with his husband and his neglectfully curated collection of books.
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