Dr. Evan Friss’s 2024 book emphasizes the key part bookshops play in forming American civil society.
In his 2024 work The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore, historian Dr. Evan Friss takes us on a tour of the pivotal role bookshops have played in the American story. Many of us, “bookish” or not, can call to mind a favorite bookshop or a happy childhood memory in one. This is what Friss asserts: bookshops form personal and national identities.
Friss begins with the very first bookshop in America, which was owned by Benjamin Franklin, who wore many hats in his bookshop. He served as author, printer, bookseller, postmaster, reporter, and any other role that needed filling. Bookshops of this era were places to gather, important third spaces where ideas were discussed and revolutions born. American civil society was made in the bookstore.
As Friss brings us through history to the time of suffragettes and the industrial revolution, we learn of another book about bookshops in this book about bookshops: Parnassus on Wheels, a novel that tells of a traveling bookshop in a wagon. Children cheered for this mobile store in the same way they cheer for ice cream trucks today. This romantic ideal of books and community warms my heart and makes me long for a day centuries before my time. American civil society is drawn to the bookstore.
Moving ever onward, Friss takes us to unsettled points in history: World War II and the Civil Rights era. In each of these, bookstores stood for something important. Bookstores don’t just spread love and hope, Friss emphasizes; they can have a darker side. For example, Aryan bookshops brought people together, but their unifying characteristic and magnetic force was antisemitism. In the Civil Rights era, on the other hand, stores brought people together to fight for rights rather than against. Those who were often not welcome in other stores had a place of their own to share ideas, hopes, and dreams—with a dash of revolution. American civil society is spread through the bookstore.
Finally, in more recent history, Friss explains the love/hate relationship bibliophiles have with large chains such as Barnes & Noble and Borders. While they may not have the spirit of smaller, locally owned “indie” bookstores, they have the beloved smell of binding, an important element missing from internet-only competitors. People come to read, shop, study, drink Starbucks, or all of the above. My happiest childhood memories are fueled by a chocolate chip frappe and perfumed by bookshop pages. American civil society smells of the bookstore.
Bookshops have been on life support more than once but, like their scrappy American patrons, they have yet to lose the fight. As you think about reading The Bookshop consider supporting a local bookstore, secondhand shop, or even your local library. Find a friend. Exchange ideas. Bring American civil society to your bookshop.
