| The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop: A Memoir, a History | 
 enlarge | Author: Lewis Buzbee
Publisher: Graywolf Press
Category: Book
List Price: $14.00
Buy New: $7.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  27 reviews
Sales Rank: 57391
Media: Paperback
Edition: Reprint
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 224
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 6.9 x 5 x 0.7
ISBN: 1555975100
Dewey Decimal Number: 920
EAN: 9781555975104
ASIN: 1555975100
Publication Date: September 30, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand New, Perfect Condition, Please allow 4-14 business days for delivery. 100% Money Back Guarantee, Over 1,000,000 customers served.
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Product Description
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 Beach’s 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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 22 more reviews...
 an accurate title December 19, 2008
I almost had to fight with Buzbee in the first chapter of this book. He describes bookstores as places to go to browse (no objection yet), even to sit down and read (no particular objection here either), and to look for particular pieces of information. Wait! Here I object: isn't that what the library is for? Of course, I have my biases (being a librarian) and he has his (being a bookseller).
Having moved on from the first chapter, I was glad I did. I found this a delightful book. It truly is both a history and a memoir. More than that, it is both a personal memoir, and a memoir of bookselling as a profession. He tells his own story alongside that of the history of bookselling, and makes both very interesting.
He includes one statistic that I find distressing, though. He tells us that at an average of one book a week (roughly my own pace, depending on the book, and the week) from the age of 5 to the age of 80, a person will read 3,900 books or a little over one-tenth of one percent of the books currently in print. Far too few, if you ask me.
 Book love August 8, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Slight personal history of the bookstore, and Buzbee's involvement as a user, employee, and lover of the bookstore. Fun couple of hours that doesn't hurt, and makes the reader want to go shopping.
I was reminded of life-long habits formed around books
--the Grantsville, Maryland public library (in a converted bank, with books in the vault), where I first remember loving libraries.
--reading "Little Big Books", highly-colored kids books in cardboard covers like cheap adult fiction, but sized for kids.
--learning to read anywhere time allowed (hey, what else are you doing during those two minutes of toothbrushing?).
--used book stores in Washington, DC full of serious books.
--"Love in the Library", a Jimmy Buffett song that my wife and I both love and remember fondly.
Note that Buzbee mentions libraries, but specifically is writing about his love for the purchased book, a point I understand. But libraries still seem to me a great barometer of the general grace of God and the extent of civilization just for the fact that when I walk through the door, I can take home a near-unlimited selection of books that don't cost anything!
A "Must Read" for Book-Lovers! July 22, 2008
Are you a bibliophile who salivates when entering a book store or library? Then this is a "must-read" book for you. Author Lewis Buzbee began his love affair with books as a schoolboy, carefully ordering his 25 Weekly Reader selections (remember those?). As a young teen Buzbee harangued the management of his hometown book shop until they finally caved and gave him a job as a shelver. Thus began a career that led to working as a publishing rep and later as an author. Filled with historical anecdotes of the history of bookmaking, bookselling, and marketing--from papyrus to POD books--Buzbee weaves personal essays throughout the text. Toward the end of the book Buzbee shares info on unusual bookshops, from the One Book Bookstore in Arizona to the large independent bookstores that contain miles and millions of books. He relates: "In Montpelier, Vermont, I recently visited Bear Pond Books. What first struck me about Bear Pond were the two signs hanging near the front entrance, each with an arrow pointing to a different half of the store; one sign said Facts, the other Truth, and I'll let you figure out which was for Fiction and which was for Home Repair."
 Overly Sentimental April 16, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I for the life of me cannot figure out what everyone loves about this book. I found it overly sentimental, boring, and flat. In general, I love books about books and am a confirmed bibliophile. I love Nicholas Basbanes, Charles Everitt, and enjoyed Matthew Budman's "Book Collecting."
In addition to my love of books, I was attacked to this book because I was interested in learning more about the history of the book industry. While there was certainly an element of that here, it was actually a very small part of the book with the greater part being the memoirs of Buzbee. The problem is that nothing really happens. We get to watch over his shoulder as he stocks books, talks with other bookstore employees, and daydreams about his favorite books and authors. Pretty boring stuff in my opinion. When something does happen - like an argument with a customer about a book - the story is told with all the life of a high school text book.
Because of my love of everything books and the glimpses into bygone years of the book industry, I give the book a solid two. Much lower than most people but maybe they are more into flowery sentimentality than I. Personaly, I find it annoying.
Charming March 22, 2008
Although the act of reading can be considered a solitary act, Buzbee describes how the book lovers among us share an unspoken bond in our book ventures. From the excitement of receiving a new Scholastic booklist to the feeling of browsing through unexplored novels in a bookshop, Buzbee has captured the essence of what it is like to be in love with books. Unlike many other nonfiction books, the interesting historical tidbits were just that, interesting.
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