Necktie salesman Matthew Mason is chosen by bookstore owner E Baker to take over her shop, Chapters and Verse, when she retires, but she continues to keep in touch by letter as he learns the business

Reviews

A down-to-earth delight, this first novel warmly recounts lives centered in a small-town bookshop. Chapters and Verse is an independent bookstore in the quiet town of Tangelo, Fla., formerly owned by Estet Baker, a shrewd, energetic, crusty older woman, as eccentric as her name implies, who is both a lover of literature and a connoisseur of human experience. E has chosen Matthew Mason as her store's new proprietor and, after showing him the ropes, has begun to travel throughout Florida to gather material for a photo-essay. Her letters record observations on local bookstores, offer business suggestions and strengthen her friendship with Matthew. As he settles into his new role, sensitive, likable Matthew--who begins to understand that in running Chapters and Verse, "I had a life to protect"--develops friendships with customers, staff and other townspeople. Barr's imaginative, humorous story celebrates the sweetness of literary life, the freshness and promise of the newly printed page.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Necktie salesperson Matthew Mason meets bookstore owner E Baker for breakfast and leaves as the new owner of Chapters and Verse. E Baker hits the road in pursuit of a new life, but she writes to him regularly. All the characters in this low-key first novel are lightly sketched, eccentric but very human. The plot is slim, little more than a device to keep characters talking to each other, but it all works. The heart of the book is a deep love for books and people. It is refreshing to read a novel whose characters' one question is, "What book shall I buy next?" There are delightful conceits like Anson's restaurant, "arranged like a choir loft" so that neighbors have "a place to eat breakfast and sing. This is an enjoyable novel, filled with quirky, off-center observations about human nature. Recommended.
- David Keymer, Inst. of Technology, Utica, N.Y.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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