Bookselling with George Orwell

[Karen Brattain]

“The combines can never squeeze the small independent bookseller out of existence as they have squeezed the grocer and the milkman.” (True or False?)

I haven’t read many of George Orwell’s essays and articles, but I discovered and enjoyed “Bookshop Memories.” I find him articulate, honest, bitter, funny: “books give off more and nastier dust than any other class of objects yet invented.”

In many ways his essay strips away the glamorous image of bookshops and booksellers. Yet in its blunt way it also glorifies those sacred, small, independent bookstores that are altogether too scarce these days.

Honestly, this is something straight out of Intro to Book Publishing! I keep looking over my shoulder for Andre Schiffrin.

For more Orwell works, the main site is “George Orwell.” Or you can go directly to the “Library.”

[Cliff N. Hansen]

I'll have to check out his essays. I am mostly familiar with his more obvious works such as "1984" and "Animal Farm".

[Karen Brattain]

How did you like his books?

The only other short piece by Orwell that I have read so far is "Politics and the English Language." It's a denser article, but it has a great line in it: "the fight against bad English is not frivolous and is not the exclusive concern of professional writers."

So I'd better read more of his work.