Jorge Carrion collects bookshops: from Gotham Book Mart and the Strand Bookstore in New York City to City Lights Bookshop and Green Apple Books in San Francisco and all the bright spots in between (Prairie Lights, Tattered Cover, and countless others). In this thought-provoking, vivid, and entertaining essay, Carrion meditates on the importance of the bookshop as a cultural and intellectual space. Filled with anecdotes from the histories of some of the famous (and not-so-famous) shops he visits on his travels, thoughtful considerations of challenges faced by bookstores, and fascinating digressions on their political and social impact, Bookshops is both a manifesto and a love letter to these spaces that transform readers' lives. Jorge Carrion is a writer and literary critic. His published works include essays, novellas, novels and travel writing, and his articles have appeared in National Geographic and Lonely Planet Magazine.
"Carrión explores the fine lines between pilgrimage destination, touristy gimmick, and decent bookshop. This is the perfect book for those who feel compelled to visit every bookstore they see."
Publishers Weekly Starred Review
"Excellent...entertaining...this quietly intelligent little book speaks volumes."
Michael Dirda, Washington Post
"[Carrion's] purpose is to celebrate bookstores. And he does so by wandering the globe in search of those that play - or have played - a special role in the intellectual and social lives of their communities. They become Carrión's personal mappa mundi."
