The Booksellers Reveals the Past and Future of Dealing in Literature

With the downfall of the big outlets Waldenbooks and Borders as well as the decline of Barnes & Noble, some people may perhaps fear books going the way of the dodo. The constant competition of other media in addition to digital books being an easier and cheaper means of reading has led to a conception that print media will die. Yet the documentary The Booksellers, far from proclaiming the doom of technology, illustrates the everlasting power of physical books.

The film features a handful of booksellers, young and old, delving into the appeal of their profession and the concerns behind books. Even though a visit to a bookselling convention reveals many older faces, there are young faces as well, brushing off the stereotypical vision of a sophisticated bookworm with thick glasses and old-fashioned librarian attire. Those kinds of collectors still exist, but they are an aged breed that populates the convention where they tout their many collectible books to sell. They’re very much aware of how the times have changed, all too eager to divulge the diminishing state. One collector notes how there were hundreds of bookstores within New York City at one time; now there are far fewer than a hundred.

Antiquarian bookseller Adam Weinberger examines a bookshelf. Courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment

Predictably, the collectors are also eager to showcase their own collections. Jim Cummins owns over 400,000 books and can’t wait to talk about them. Justin Schiller tells the tale of how his love for the books of his childhood led to him stumbling onto a rare copy of The Wizard of Oz and making him a notable collector among prolific authors. One collector at a convention reveals how much his original and second-printing collections cost, ranging in the hundreds of dollars apiece, and how many customers may cry at either the sight of the book or a price they can’t justify. Sometimes both.

The collectors are very open about not only their catalogs but the very nature of their profession. Since book collecting isn’t as lucrative as it once was, they’re well aware this is a pursuit of passion—you have to be very much engaged with books to want to deal with them. In many ways, this reveals the true dedication to the medium. We’re told stories about how some older owners would coast on their bookstores to merely read all day, not taking note of what they had in stock. Sure, there were bigger stores that catered to books, but several collectors feel it’s good riddance to the smaller jobs that struggled and died among such demands. Now that so many brick-and-mortar stores have left the stage, only the most committed of bookstores remain. Other interesting avenues the film ventures down are that of book experts that have been called upon for such programs as Pawn Stars and Antiques Roadshow.

Fran Lebowitz in The Booksellers. Courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment

By far the most vocal and passionate among the interviewed is author and cultural speaker Fran Lebowitz, who reflects with brutal and eccentric honesty on the state of physical books. She speaks with a bit of bitterness for the elements of the past we can shirk as well as the better aspects of booksellers that have sadly evaporated. But even when things look gloomy from a business side, she remains committed to the preservation of the page. She notes that she could never bring herself to throw away a book, even a title she absolutely despised. To see a book all torn and trashed in the dumpster breaks her heart.

The film darts between different booksellers for interviews, each introduced with a title card and some jazz to ease us into the segment. They give their story, show off what they have, and add to the developing conversation on where book sales were and where they will go in the future. There’s just enough jumping around among the dozens of talking heads that we never spend too much time getting lost within a stirring codex on fish or an eerie book bound in human skin and teeth, interesting as those may be. The flow is easy and freewheeling enough that The Booksellers never loses sight of the grander question of where we are and where we’re going with books.

Bookseller David Bergman. Courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment

The film goes out on a hopeful note. Lebowitz speaks excitedly about how younger people are more prone to reading physical books than e-books, while more of the older folks are using e-readers. (I can vouch for the fact that I’ve been reading more books around the house and honestly can’t remember where my Kindle is.) I’d say that’s a good sign that this physical medium won’t be dying anytime soon.

The Booksellers ends after a convention where the many collectors and lovers of literature gather around and tell stories. They seem happy and confident enough that books will remain long after they depart, even if they seem more niche than commercial.

Adina Cohen, Naomi Hample, and Judith Lowry of the Argosy Bookstore. Courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment