A cantankerously funny view of books and the people who love them. It does take all kinds and through the misanthropic eyes of a very grumpy bookseller, we see them all–from the Person Who Doesn’t Know What They Want (But Thinks It Might Have a Blue Cover) to the Parents Secretly After Free Childcare.

From behind the counter, Shaun Bythell catalogs the customers who roam his shop in Wigtown, Scotland. There’s the Expert (divided into subspecies from the Bore to the Helpful Person), the Young Family (ranging from the Exhausted to the Aspirational), Occultists (from Conspiracy Theorist to Craft Woman).

Then there’s the Loiterer (including the Erotica Browser and the Self-Published Author), the Bearded Pensioner (including the Lyrca Clad), and the The Not-So-Silent Traveller (the Whistler, Sniffer, Hummer, Farter, and Tutter). Two bonus sections include Staff and, finally, Perfect Customer–all add up to one of the funniest book about books you’ll ever find.

Shaun Bythell (author of Confessions of a Bookseller) and his mordantly unique observational eye make this perfect for anyone who loves books and bookshops.

Bythell is having fun and it’s infectious. –Scotsman

Virtuosic venting … misanthropy with bursts of sweetness. Guardian

All the ingredients for a gentle human comedy are here, as soothing as a bag of boiled sweets and just as tempting to dip into. –Literary Review

Any reader finding this book in their stocking on Christmas morning should feel lucky…contains plenty to amuse–an excellent diversion –Bookmunch