A Jordan Bookseller’s 24-Hour ‘Emergency Room for the Mind’

palerdot | 159 points

"“There can be no set price for a book,” he says. “It depends on the book, the person, and the author—when you put a price on something, you change the relationship between person and book. You say ‘this is 10 dinars, this is 20 dinars’ and then the person thinks one is better than the other. But how can I know how much somebody needs a particular book in a certain moment? Which book is the best for that person?”"

This dude and Amazon agree on something important, it looks like :-p

jonstokes | 7 years ago

"A favorite book! No! That is extremism!"

That quote tells you everything you need to know about the owner of the bookstore. He's not merely a merchant.

HenryTheHorse | 7 years ago

I was pleasantly surprised that the "relevant stories" area actually shows _real relevant stories_ instead of the insane clickbait you see on every site nowadays.

Besides that, this article makes me long for more reading, so much knowledge about everything is contained in books... wish I could capture just a small portion of that knowledge within myself

azeirah | 7 years ago

This is much like Nina George's novel, The Little Paris Bookshop [1], which is a pleasant and occasionally thought provoking read.

From the publisher's description:

"Monsieur Perdu calls himself a literary apothecary. From his floating bookstore in a barge on the Seine, he prescribes novels for the hardships of life. Using his intuitive feel for the exact book a reader needs, Perdu mends broken hearts and souls."

[1] https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00O0286MS

tumba | 7 years ago

The world needs more Hamzehs.

mad44 | 7 years ago

This is wonderful.

tehwalrus | 7 years ago