Sept History Bk Club - "The Bookshop" by Evan Friss

In September, we will indulge in discussion of a topic that we can all relate to in one way or another - bookstores: The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore by Evan Friss.

Here is what the publisher has to say about it:
"Evan Friss’s history of the bookshop draws on oral histories, archival collections, municipal records, diaries, letters, and interviews with leading booksellers to offer a fascinating look at this institution beloved by so many. The story begins with Benjamin Franklin’s first bookstore in Philadelphia and takes us to a range of booksellers including The Strand, Chicago’s Marshall Field & Company, Gotham Book Mart, specialty stores like Oscar Wilde and Drum and Spear, sidewalk sellers of used books, Barnes & Noble, Amazon Books, and Parnassus. The Bookshop is also a history of the leading figures in American bookselling, often impassioned eccentrics, and a history of how books have been marketed and sold over more than two centuries—including, for example, a 3,000-pound elephant who appeared to sign books at Marshall Field’s in 1944."

Please remember that this is, first and foremost, a book club. Like any local book club, the point is discussion about a shared experience - reading a book! It is not a lecture series. So as usual, get a copy of the book, read it and then join us for another interesting discussion. We continue to meet virtually because so many of our members now join us from locations outside the D.C area.In September, we will indulge in a history of something we all

A zoom link to the discussion will be sent a day before the meeting.