Scan barcode
A review by agrippinaes
Once Upon a Tome: The Misadventures of a Rare Bookseller by Oliver Darkshire
3.0
I bought this book because I’ve followed the Sotheran’s Twitter account for a while, and enjoyed the content on there. This is an interesting book that delves into all of the oddities and quirks of working as a rare bookseller. The book is split into sections focusing on different aspects of this sort of work, and is then split into smaller chapters, a lot of which comprise of anecdotes about unusual people or books the author has encountered over his work.
The writing is quite solid; it’s engaging and there are some touching and emotive moments, especially later on in the book as it discusses how times are changing for this tight-knit world. As might be expected from their social media accounts, which are primarily run by the author, Oliver Darkshire, there is a quirky sense of humour running through the book on almost every single page. There are little humorous tangents about unusual patrons, footnotes commenting directly on the text with random asides.
This approach felt quite charming for the first few chapters but I struggled with it more and more as the book went on. As a piece of writing, it was determined to be funny and quirky and weird; sometimes that became tiring, and some of the anecdotes just felt stretched. I think the problem for me was that what was funny about their social media in short form did not really work for me in this longer form.
Thankfully, it’s not a very long book, so whilst it wasn’t for me I was still able to read it in full without skimming. I also have to say that the book could have been rounded off better – it came to a very sudden stop that felt unsatisfying.
As a whole this isn’t a bad book and I can see other readers really enjoying it – but it wasn’t my cup of tea at all.
Content Notes:
Warnings:
The writing is quite solid; it’s engaging and there are some touching and emotive moments, especially later on in the book as it discusses how times are changing for this tight-knit world. As might be expected from their social media accounts, which are primarily run by the author, Oliver Darkshire, there is a quirky sense of humour running through the book on almost every single page. There are little humorous tangents about unusual patrons, footnotes commenting directly on the text with random asides.
This approach felt quite charming for the first few chapters but I struggled with it more and more as the book went on. As a piece of writing, it was determined to be funny and quirky and weird; sometimes that became tiring, and some of the anecdotes just felt stretched. I think the problem for me was that what was funny about their social media in short form did not really work for me in this longer form.
Thankfully, it’s not a very long book, so whilst it wasn’t for me I was still able to read it in full without skimming. I also have to say that the book could have been rounded off better – it came to a very sudden stop that felt unsatisfying.
As a whole this isn’t a bad book and I can see other readers really enjoying it – but it wasn’t my cup of tea at all.
Content Notes:
Warnings: