Issue 40 / January 2012
Tales from a Bookshop
New bookseller, Anna Goodall, on her first week at Clerkenwell Tales...
Yes, I've finally made it. As an editor, writer and lifelong booklover, I've finally crossed to the other side of the desk and become a bookseller... and the view is looking pretty good so far.
Last week was quite a dramatic time to begin in the world of bookselling with the much-discussed and debated closure of Borders. In fact I think one of the first things I heard a customer say to Peter, owner of CT, was: 'You must be so glad that Borders is closing!' to which he replied simply, 'Nooooooo!'
Anything that hurts the publishing trade filters to all levels and besides, Borders was surprisingly supportive of the 'small' people in publishing - especially magazines and local authors - though the public at large may not realise this so much. Then again, a huge company like Borders is completely incapable of offering the kind of personal approach that is the raison d'être of the independent.
In the flurry of articles about the printed word/publishing trade I've read a lot about how personal independent bookselling is, but in all honesty I wasn't quite prepared for just how personal. The shop is a hive of social activity with customers - many of them frighteningly well-read or even well-known literary figures themselves - eager for recommendations, and ready to pass on their own suggestions. They want to talk about books and loads of other things besides, and Peter is right at the heart of it. In my first week loads of customers would pop into the shop when he was out at meetings and seem slightly disgruntled to find just me there! They love talking to him and the constant chatter about books and related matters is at the heart of the shop. Deep into my second week it's an incredibly enjoyable experience to be part of this highly literary social whirl.
What's hot:
London's Strangest Tales by Tom Quinn is flying off the shelves. It's a collection of true, curious and highly entertaining stories about the capital from the last one thousand years of London life.
Perfumes: the A-Z Guide by Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez guides you ingeniously through 1,500 scents. The authors are clearly obsessed with this most powerful of human senses and the book is brilliantly written, entertaining and scintillatingly honest however big the name on the bottle.
Fiction favourites include Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld, Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann, Granta magazine (and its new writers' diary, which is gorgeous and coveted by a certain new bookseller), as well as everything by Stieg Larsson.
Poetry-wise the beautiful Faber 80th anniversary editions by Plath, Hughes, Auden, Betjeman and TS Eliot are proving very popular with the people of EC1.
And who did we spot:
In the shop this week... Adam Thirwell, Tash Aw, Irma Kurtz, Cory Doctorow and John Hegley.
What we like:
We love Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris: Including Books, Street Fashion and Jewelry by Leanne Shapton.
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