The Book Shopper eBook Murray Browne
Download As PDF : The Book Shopper eBook Murray Browne 
"Where is human nature so weak as in the bookstore?"—Henry Ward Beecher
The Book Shopper is a spirited and witty guide to the world of disheveled used bookstores and dusty basements where shelves sag under the burden of so many books. In the limitless sea of books, here's one that will make you laugh as it helps you find your way to titles and authors you'll really want to read.
"This predilection [for browsing used bookstores] has grown into a real (albeit quirky) passion for thinking about the many ways books affect our lives—how and where we shop for them, the people we know who read them, the small passages that stick in our heads for years only to reappear at the oddest moments. The minds of book people are mosaics of ideas, thoughts, and phrases that have originated in books…I'm fascinated by how we hold and shape these fragments, how they coalesce into what I call my book shopper state of mind."—from Chapter 1 of The Book Shopper
In chapters such as "Book Lovers Are Not Necessarily People Lovers," "Prerequisites What Every Good Bookstore Should Have," "Books as Gifts," and "The Classic Book Group," Murray Browne offers a lifeline to readers who love to browse for books and are always looking for that next great read—and a good deal—but who may be swamped by the vast offerings.
Murray Browne has published numerous essays, book reviews, newspaper articles, feature stories, and technical articles. He holds a BA in English and Radio-Television and an MS in Information (Library) Sciences from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Though he grew up in the Midwest, Browne now lives in Atlanta, where he works as a media content analyst.
The Book Shopper eBook Murray Browne
Literary critics are a dime a dozen. You can find any number of people who can pontificate about Jane Austen or Martin Amis, Harry Potter or Holden Caulfield. And if you want to join the discussion, there are book groups, literary clubs, classes, and blogs. What's hard is to find someone to chat with about the non-literary side of being a bookish person - shopping for books, arranging books, giving or lending books, getting rid of books.Murray Browne is your man either way. He can hold forth on modern novelists, and has the newspaper reviewer credentials to back it up. But the more entertaining essays in The Book Shopper are about the physical aspects of books rather than their contents. He discusses used bookstores and the joy of finding cheap books. He talks about how he evaluates a used bookstore and about the people who run bookstores. He explores the ways of arranging your books and when and how you should get rid of books. Should you give books as gifts? If you do, should you inscribe them with a personal note or leave them pristine? (Amusingly, or perhaps sadly, the secondhand copy of Browne's book that I bought has an inscription from Browne addressed to someone he also thanks in the acknowledgments.)
I love this sort of discussion. I'd rather know how you arrange your books than what book you think should get the Man Booker Prize. I'd rather know who you think was right or wrong in the Jonathan Franzen/Oprah Winfrey faceoff than what you think of Franzen's latest novel. Browne weighs in on both topics, and many others.
This is the second book I've read from the small publisher Paul Dry, who I had not heard of before I found Gabriel Zaid's small and excellent book of essays about books and publishing, So Many Books: Reading and Publishing in an Age of Abundance. Browne also discovered Zaid's book and talks about how he, Browne, had his own book published by Paul Dry.
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The Book Shopper eBook Murray Browne Reviews
Murray Brown's book is an enjoyable book that all who love books will find fun and entertaining. He writes will true wit and takes you into the world of a book lover. Take a trip into book shopping with Murray--you won't regret it.
If you've ever found yourself in a used book store, suddenly wondering how the previous 2 hours had passed, then this is your kind of book. Browne's insights into why we read and what we read will spark your own internal dialogue about your life with books. I recommend this book to anyone who treasures books.
This book begins well. As stated , by a previous reader, the first half is the strength of the book. The second half is little more than a collection of reviews and reflections of various authors. Most of these authors were ones I was faamiliar with. I presume that anyone buying this book will have read the majority (if not all) of the books that Browne decides to discuss.
I was really looking forward to reading The Book Shopper, and took it with me on a cross-country plane ride. (One of only a handful of books I took on summer vacation.) The first section started strong and I was confident that I made the right choice--Browne tells some great stories about being a book shopper, and I felt in good company, but his presence grew thin as he told one too many asides that counted coup with deals. The second section focused on specific writers and Browne, who was a book reviewer for a few newspapers, proved himself to be a critic who tried real hard--so hard, in fact, that I lost interest in his efforts and longed to be reading Gabriel Garcia Marquez. (Ah, the irony of being 30,000 feet above the earth's surface and reading an average critic talk about great writers!) After we landed, I actually forgot The Book Shopper on the plane, in the proverbial "seat pocket in front of you." Rather than mourn its loss, I was pleased to be that much lighter with my carry-on bag. Because I believe in book magic, I trust that my former copy found a good home and is now living a happy, useful life near Erie, Pennsylvania.
Unlike other authors who write similar books, Murray Browne refuses to label himself a bibliophile; he instead considers himself a book shopper. I am not entirely clear or convinced of his distinction, although it has something to do with not being a ravenous collector nor reader, but rather a focused reader who also considers others when buying books. He engages in the somewhat unusual habit of purchasing extra copies of discounted books to later give as gifts.
Browne is a very sympathetic figure as he reveals how he pretty much resigned himself to follow his wife's career to wherever she was assigned. He eventually divorced and his later and current employments are atypical of the book lovers who write in this genre. I also found refreshing his honesty about his inability to remember the contents of many books he reads as well as his average pace of reading. A good number of authors who write these books give the impression that they consume them at an inhuman pace; they always leave me with a slight sense of inadequacy.
Browne also goes into detail about some of his favorite authors, including the likes of Tom Wolfe, Annie Proulx, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, as well as some lesser known writers like Roy Lewis (at least lesser known to me). His list of authors and books provides temptations for the interested reader. Browne also brings a level of modesty to the authors he covers he is clear that not all writers write well all the time; their works can vary greatly in quality.
The Book Shopper is less of a reflection on how books have shaped a life than a recounting of books read and opinions formed about those books and their authors. There is some content about how books have created a bond between Browne and his daughters; beyond that, there is not much of the introspection about the role books can play in shaping a person. Perhaps that is why Browne considers himself more a book shopper than a bibliophile.
Literary critics are a dime a dozen. You can find any number of people who can pontificate about Jane Austen or Martin Amis, Harry Potter or Holden Caulfield. And if you want to join the discussion, there are book groups, literary clubs, classes, and blogs. What's hard is to find someone to chat with about the non-literary side of being a bookish person - shopping for books, arranging books, giving or lending books, getting rid of books.
Murray Browne is your man either way. He can hold forth on modern novelists, and has the newspaper reviewer credentials to back it up. But the more entertaining essays in The Book Shopper are about the physical aspects of books rather than their contents. He discusses used bookstores and the joy of finding cheap books. He talks about how he evaluates a used bookstore and about the people who run bookstores. He explores the ways of arranging your books and when and how you should get rid of books. Should you give books as gifts? If you do, should you inscribe them with a personal note or leave them pristine? (Amusingly, or perhaps sadly, the secondhand copy of Browne's book that I bought has an inscription from Browne addressed to someone he also thanks in the acknowledgments.)
I love this sort of discussion. I'd rather know how you arrange your books than what book you think should get the Man Booker Prize. I'd rather know who you think was right or wrong in the Jonathan Franzen/Oprah Winfrey faceoff than what you think of Franzen's latest novel. Browne weighs in on both topics, and many others.
This is the second book I've read from the small publisher Paul Dry, who I had not heard of before I found Gabriel Zaid's small and excellent book of essays about books and publishing, So Many Books Reading and Publishing in an Age of Abundance. Browne also discovered Zaid's book and talks about how he, Browne, had his own book published by Paul Dry.
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