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Susan's Reviews > The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop
The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop
by Lewis Buzbee (Goodreads Author)
by Lewis Buzbee (Goodreads Author)
This is a book written by a bibliophile for bibliophiles. The subtitle of the book, "a memoir, a history," is the perfect description of this gem of a book. As a former bookseller and sales representative, Buzbee, the author, deftly and beautifully weaves his personal literary history alongside literary history as a whole. Buzbee covers an incredible range of topics--his first days as a bookseller to the history of the library at Alexandria to the extraordinary effort Sylvia Beach made to publish Joyce's then-controversial "Ulysses" to the life of the book as it moves from author and agent and editor and publisher to bookstore (and back to publisher, depending on how quickly it sells)--and from the first page to the last, I found myself both happy and proud that this little homage to books was published by so talented and enthusiastic a writer.
One of the most fascinating, albeit somewhat depressing, parts of the book for me occurred when Buzbee wrote at length about how a book moves from publisher to bookstore, what a bookstore does when a book does or doesn't sell, the breakdown of how much, for example, of a $25 hardcover goes to author, agent, publisher, printer, and bookseller, etc. For those 5 or 10 pages alone, I would recommend this book for writers looking to be published, as Buzbee provides a concise and helpful explanation of publishing houses today.
Another of my favorite parts of the book deals with the (sadly faded) practice of lending libraries (think red box but for books). Lending libraries, often in the basement of bookstores where one could 'rent' a book for a few weeks for a small fee, would be brilliant for those books you didn't want to buy, but that you were too anxious to wait for at the library.
The end of "The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop" is also useful, as Buzbee includes a compendium of a few of his favorite bookstores around the world.
If you're looking for a break between novels, or simply a good and fairly quick read about books, bookstores, libraries, and book-lovers, give "The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop" a try.
One of the most fascinating, albeit somewhat depressing, parts of the book for me occurred when Buzbee wrote at length about how a book moves from publisher to bookstore, what a bookstore does when a book does or doesn't sell, the breakdown of how much, for example, of a $25 hardcover goes to author, agent, publisher, printer, and bookseller, etc. For those 5 or 10 pages alone, I would recommend this book for writers looking to be published, as Buzbee provides a concise and helpful explanation of publishing houses today.
Another of my favorite parts of the book deals with the (sadly faded) practice of lending libraries (think red box but for books). Lending libraries, often in the basement of bookstores where one could 'rent' a book for a few weeks for a small fee, would be brilliant for those books you didn't want to buy, but that you were too anxious to wait for at the library.
The end of "The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop" is also useful, as Buzbee includes a compendium of a few of his favorite bookstores around the world.
If you're looking for a break between novels, or simply a good and fairly quick read about books, bookstores, libraries, and book-lovers, give "The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop" a try.
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