My Bookstore: Writers Celebrate Their Favorite Places to Browse, Read and Shop edited by Ronald Rice and Booksellers across America, Introduction by Richard Russo, Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, November 2012.
In “My Bookstore” our greatest authors write about the pleasure, guidance, and support that their favorite bookstores and booksellers have given them over the years. The relationship between a writer and his or her local store and staff can last for years or even decades. Often it’s the author’s local store that supported him during the early days of his career, that continues to introduce and hand-sell her work to new readers, and that serves as the anchor for the community in which he lives and works.
“My Bookstore” collects the essays, stories, odes, and words of gratitude and praise for stores across the country in over 70 pieces written by our most beloved authors. It’s a joyful, nationwide celebration of our bricks-and-mortar stores and a clarion call to readers everywhere at a time when the value and importance of these stores should be shouted from the rooftops.
Perfectly charming line drawings by Leif Parsons illustrate each storefront and other distinguishing features of the shops. A portion of the proceeds from the book will be donated by the publisher to the American Book Association (ABA) Winter Institute. An additional portion of the proceeds will go to the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE).
Lemuria is included in My Bookstore with an essay by Barry Moser. Here is an excerpt from the essay:
Two years later ABA was in San Francisco and Johnny and I ran into each other again, this time on the marble staircase of one of the city’s municipal buildings . . . We talked for a while and during the conversation I told him, over the loud jazz, that I had just finished reading a book written by a neighbor of his, and that I felt it was one of the most influential books I’d ever read.
“What book is that?” he asked.
“Eudora Welty’s One Writer’s Beginnings,” I replied.
“Oh. Oh.” Johnny said excitedly. “She’s a big fan of your work!”
I looked behind me to see who he was talking to, certain that he surely must have been talking to somebody other than me. But he was, in fact, talking to me. I said, “What? You kidding me?”
“No.” he said. “She loves your Huckleberry Finn. I’m going to have to get you two together. Do a project or something.”
A year or so later I flew down to Jackson, Mississippi. True to his word, he introduced us. It was a sunny afternoon and Miss Welty welcomed us into her home with the graciousness you might imagine. We stayed a good part of the afternoon, enough time to put away a good bit of some bourbon whiskey I brought Miss Welty as a present. It was also enough time for us to lay down some preliminary plans for a collaboration: the Pennyroyal Press edition of The Robber Bridegroom, which we published in 1987.
From then on Lemuria was always on the itinerary when I went on the road to promote a new book—that is, until my publishers stopped spending the money to send me on tour. But until that happened I always had Lemuria scheduled—and scheduled last. In case you don’t know, Johnny Evans has a soft spot for good bourbon whiskey, as do I. In fact, I am fairly sure that we might just enjoy it a tad too much, and that’s why I always want to end my travels in Jackson so that all I’ll have to do in my hurt state is to go home. Nobody wants to promote a book while nursing a two-day hangover.
Join us Friday, November 16th at 5:00 for a book signing, reading and toast for My Bookstore: Writers Celebrate Their Favorite Places to Browse, Read and Shop with Barry Moser.
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