You know what kind of book this is: the kind of book that’s shelved under “humour” or “novelty” or “gifts”; the kind of book they stack next to the checkouts in case of impulse purchase.
It’s fine. It took me about an hour to read, cover-to-cover. I’m not sure quite what I was expecting, but it wasn’t this, exactly; somehow I thought it might be meatier, or have a more coherent narrative.
Instead, it’s a collection of one-liners and anecdotes about dealing with bookshop customers:
Customer: Do you have that book – I forget what it’s called; it’s about people with large, hairy feet.
Bookseller: Do you mean hobbits? The Lord of the Rings?
Customer: No…erm – The Hairy Bikers.
Some of them are funny; some of them are disturbing (the customer who, on being told that the LGBT+ fiction is shelved with the rest of the fiction, looks suspiciously at the book she’s holding and sidles out); some of them shed light on the troubles independent booksellers are facing (customers asking for recommendations and then buying on line; customers asking for discounts). It’s perhaps a little nose-tapping, especially when it comes to the latter issues: “well, of course that’s ridiculous and I wouldn’t do that,” says the wise reader, but the fact is lots of people are doing that, or these anecdotes wouldn’t exist in the first place.
Anyway. It’s a diverting enough read. Borrow it or give it as a gift; probably not worth buying it for yourself.
The English Student 