IN PRAISE OF GOOD BOOKSTORES by Jeff Deutsch

In Praise of Good Bookstores is a love letter to bookstores by the manager of the Seminary Co-op Bookstore in Chicago, considered one of America’s best bookstores.

In Praise of Good Bookstores is a love letter to bookstores by the manager of the Seminary Co-op Bookstore in Chicago, considered one of America’s best bookstores.

The book is split into four main topics for thought: space, time, abundance and community. He utilises his decades of experience at Seminary Co-op to underpin his views, combined with the thoughts of msny others - both from the distance past through to current day authors, many of whom are/were members of the co-op. The Seminary Co-op is now a not-for-profit enterprise, which in itself is a different approach to what would ordinarily be considered a retail space.

Deutsch’s writing is somewhat academic in its approach. If this had been the basis of a PhD thesis, I would not have been surprised, so heavily is it footnoted and the commentary of others so heavily relied upon. However, this doesn’t make it unreadable - on the contrary, it is very readable. The writing and language is sophisticated - the sign of a learned man.

One of the critiques of In Praise of Good Bookstores is its heavy use of quotes by others. Those criticisms are not incorrect, but they say what the author wants said without him claiming authorship of them. There’s humility in that.

Finally, yes, Deutsch’s writing focuses on the achievements of his own bookstore. However, if that store is as good as reported (I have never been to Chicago so I don’t know), then why wouldn’t your views be founded upon its success? Is an opinion not better places coming from first hand experience than just mere observation?

This is a wonderful book - rarely do I pull out the tabs and pencil and make copious notes, but for this I did. It is a love letter to wonderful bookstores and, as an aspiring bookstore owner, there are so many wonderful chunks of wisdom to be found in these pages. I highly commend this book to you, if reading and books are a passion of yours.