Synopses & Reviews
"I cannot remember when I read a book with such delight.
" --Paul Yamazaki, City Lights Bookstore
November, a dark, rainy Tuesday, late afternoon. This is my ideal time to be in a bookstore. The shortened light of the afternoon and the idleness and hush of the hour gather everything close, the shelves and the books and the few other customers who graze head-bent in the narrow aisles. I've come to find a book.
In The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop, Buzbee, a former bookseller and sales representative, celebrates the unique experience of the bookstore--the smell and touch of books, getting lost in the deep canyons of shelves, and the silent community of readers. He shares his passion for books, which began with ordering through The Weekly Reader in grade school. Interwoven throughout is a
fascinating historical account of the bookseller's trade--from the great Alexandria library with an estimated one million papyrus scrolls to Sylvia Beach's famous Paris bookstore, Shakespeare and Company, which led to the extraordinary effort to publish and sell James Joyce's Ulysses during the 1920s.
Rich with anecdotes, The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop is the perfect choice for those who relish the enduring pleasures of spending an afternoon finding just the right book.
Review
"The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop is a delectable feast for the reader. Like a great meal, The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop provides the reader many types of pleasure. Each chapter offers its particular moments of insight and enchantment it is difficult to pick which chapter offered the greatest satisfaction. I cannot remember when I have read a book with such delight." Paul Yamazaki, City Lights Bookstore
Review
"A riveting, lurid account of the author's first tremulous encounters with 'book lust' and his helpless descent into full-blown bibliomania. A cautionary tale every parent in America should heed, and a big fat naughty pleasure for book nuts everywhere." August Kleinzahler
Review
"A fascinating, detailed account of how book selling has come to be what it is, with detours to Alexandria, Classical Rome, and sixth-century China, among other places." San Francisco Weekly
Review
"The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop offers many pleasures when you dip inside especially the pleasure of sharing the world of books with others who share your passion." Grass Roots Reader
Review
"Both anecdotal and eloquent...a tribute to those who crave the cozy confines of a bookshop, a place to be 'alone among others' and savor a bountiful literary buffet." Booklist
Review
"A leisurely stroll with a knowledgeable but unpretentious companion through some very interesting aisles." Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
Buzbee, a former bookseller and sales representative, celebrates the unique experience of the bookstore the smell and touch of books, getting lost in the deep canyons of shelves, and the silent community of readers.
Synopsis
In The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop, Buzbee, a former bookseller and sales representative, celebrates the unique experience of the bookstore the smell and touch of books, the joy of getting lost in the deep canyons of shelves, and the silent community of readers. He shares his passion for books, which began with ordering through the Weekly Reader in grade school. Woven throughout is a fascinating historical account of the bookseller trade from the great Alexandria library with an estimated one million papyrus scrolls to Sylvia Beach's famous Paris bookstore, Shakespeare & Co., that led to the extraordinary effort to publish and sell James Joyce's Ulysses. Rich with anecdotes, The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop is the perfect choice for those who relish the enduring pleasures of spending an afternoon finding just the right book.
Synopsis
In The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop, a Book Sense selection, Lewis Buzbee celebrates the unique experience of the bookstore—the smell and touch of books, the joy of getting lost in the deep canyons of shelves, and the silent community of readers. He shares his passion for books, which began with ordering through the Weekly Reader in grade school. Woven throughout is a fascinating historical account of the bookseller trade—from the great Alexandria library to Sylvia Beachs famous Paris bookstore, Shakespeare & Co. Rich with anecdotes, The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop is the perfect choice for those who relish the enduring pleasures of spending an afternoon finding just the right book.
About the Author
Lewis Buzbee is a former bookseller and sales representative, and the author of several books, most recently Steinbecks Ghost. He lives in San Francisco with his wife and daughter.