Evan Friss on the Enduring Power of ‘The Bookshop’

KQED's Forum

The smell of ink on paper. The handwritten staff recommendations. The plan to only buy one book, and the inevitable exit with five. Visiting a brick-and-mortar bookstore is not just a serotonin-releasing individual experience. Bookstores build community among the aspiring writer employee, the bookworm regular and everyone else who has “an attachment to the store and the store to them.” That’s according to Evan Friss, author of “The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore.” We’ll talk with Friss and with some California bookshop owners about the communities they serve, and we’ll hear from you: What’s your favorite bookstore? Why?

Guests:

Evan Friss, professor of history, James Madison University; author, "The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstores

Brad Johnson, owner of East Bay Booksellers in Oakland

Jhoanna Belfer, owner and head booknerd, Bel Canto Books in Long Beach