Footnotes from the World's Greatest Bookstores: True Tales and Lost Moments from Book Buyers, Booksellers, and Book Lovers

by Bob Eckstein

Garrison Keillor (Foreword)

A New York Times Bestseller

From the beloved New Yorker cartoonist comes a collection of paintings and stories from some of the world’s most cherished bookstores. 

This collection of 75 evocative paintings and colorful anecdotes invites you into the heart and soul of every community: the local bookshop, each with its own quirks, charms, and legendary stories. 

The book features an incredible roster of great bookstores from across the globe and stories from writers, thinkers and artists of our time, including David Bowie, Tom Wolfe, Jonathan Lethem, Roz Chast, Deepak Chopra, Bob Odenkirk, Philip Glass, Jonathan Ames, Terry Gross, Mark Maron, Neil Gaiman, Ann Patchett, Chris Ware, Molly Crabapple, Amitav Ghosh, Alice Munro, Dave Eggers, and many more.  

Page by page, Eckstein perfectly captures our lifelong love affair with books, bookstores, and book-sellers that is at once heartfelt, bittersweet, and cheerfully confessional.

• ISBN10: 0553459279
• ISBN13: 9780553459272
• Publish Date: 4 October 2016
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Random House USA Inc
• Imprint: Clarkson Potter
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 176
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780553459272

Reviews

[MurderByDeath]

The author and illustrator, inspired by an assignment for The New Yorker, chose 75 independent bookstores from around the world and painted a watercolour of each storefront.  Superimposed on these illustrations are quotes or stories about each shop, told by the owner, an employee, or a customer.  Some have a definite 'wow' factor, some are sweet, some are funny.  At the back of the book are a collection of stories that didn't fit into the book but couldn't be left out.   All of them reaffirm my desire to own a bookshop someday.