Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Jeanette Winterson on how British booksellers could learn from the French

Just to beat a point to a bloody pulp. From Jeanette Winterson's column for The Times:

When I was at Shakespeare and Company, a boy of about 19 wanted a book he could not afford. He really wanted the book, and he really could not afford it. So Sylvia, who owns the store, asked him if he would come back later, shift boxes, help with the poetry event they were running - and then he could take the book.

I am sure that this breaks all the rules, but it mends the jagged gap between love and money. We need money, but not everything is about money, and books, even though they are bought and sold, are essentially about love.

3 comments:

Carl V. Anderson said...

That is certainly the kind of personal service that is missing from a lot of what retail/business is today. What a great story.

Doc Martian said...

http://www.snopes.com/politics/palin/bannedbooks.asp

this does not surprise me.

Cheers!
Doc

darkorpheus said...

Carl - SThat's what makes Shakespeare & Co the institution that it is today. That they never forgot their core values.