The Bookshop; A History of the American Bookstore

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
Goodreads Choice Award Winner in History & Biography
One of Time’s 100 Must-Read Books of 2024

"A spirited defense of this important, odd and odds-defying American retail category." —The New York Times

"It is a delight to wander through the bookstores of American history in this warm, generous book." —Emma Straub, New York Times bestselling author and owner of Books Are Magic*

A heartfelt and captivating history of the American bookstore and its deep-rooted significance in American culture, from department stores to indie shops, high-end sellers dealing in rare editions to street vendors, and from large chains to specialty community hubs.

Bookstores have always been more than just retail spaces; they've shaped readers, writers, and ideas while influencing our politics, tastes, and beliefs. These spaces cultivate local communities and create entirely new ones. But bookstores are also endangered. In The Bookshop, we explore the stakes—what has been lost and what we risk losing.

Evan Friss’s exploration of the bookstore draws from a rich array of sources, including oral histories, archives, municipal records, and interviews with prominent booksellers, offering an engaging look at this cherished institution. The story begins with Benjamin Franklin’s first bookstore in Philadelphia and travels through a variety of booksellers like The Strand, Marshall Field & Company in Chicago, the Gotham Book Mart, specialty stores such as Oscar Wilde and Drum and Spear, street vendors selling used books, Barnes & Noble, Amazon Books, and Parnassus. It also delves into the history of American bookselling’s influential figures, often passionate and eccentric, and how books have been marketed and sold for over two centuries—like a 3,000-pound elephant who signed books at Marshall Field’s in 1944.

The Bookshop is both a love letter to bookstores and an essential read for anyone who holds these literary sanctuaries dear. It’s a tribute to how these vital institutions have shaped American life and why we continue to need them.