Jen Campbell, a bookseller based in London and Edinburgh, chronicles the bizarre and illogical requests encountered while working behind a sales counter. The text is a curated selection of dialogue snippets and anecdotes documenting public misunderstandings of literature and commerce. Customers ask for books based solely on the color of their jackets, request "The Da Vinci Code" by Charles Dickens, or inquire if books can be purchased by the yard for interior design. These real-life transcripts highlight moments where shoppers mistake bookstores for public libraries, clinics, or lost property offices.
This collection serves retail employees who recognize the specific exhaustion of handling eccentric public inquiries. It functions as a source of relief for librarians and clerks who find their own experiences reflected in these exchanges. Readers walk away with a cynical yet amused perspective on the disconnect between the quiet reputation of bookshops and the chaotic reality of customer service. The book provides quick, observational humor that validates the daily frustrations of anyone working in a service-oriented literary environment.
Practical, outward-looking and clear-cut; an easy read.
Best for readers like The Practical Optimizer. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 2012
- Language
- EN
