An Alphabetical Life: Living It Up in the World of Books

An Alphabetical Life: Living It Up in the World of Books
by Wendy Werris

An Alphabetical Life: Living It Up in the World of Books
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Book Summary Information

Author: Wendy Werris
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2006-10-17
ISBN: 078671817X
Number of pages: 336
Publisher: Da Capo Press

Book Reviews of An Alphabetical Life: Living It Up in the World of Books

Book Review: Entertaining, but sometimes wandering, book memoir
Summary: 3 Stars

This is a memoir about Werris's life journey through the book world. Werris started by working for her local, indie bookstore and eventually moved into the male-dominated world of publishers' representatives. Certain aspects of this story were interesting, including the inner workings of book stores and the relationships between book buyers and publisher's reps. Other incidents described in the book, however, seemed to be included only as a way for Werris to drop in names of famous people she's met along the way. This was not a bad book, but there are better choices (Lewis Buzbee's The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop).

Summary of An Alphabetical Life: Living It Up in the World of Books

Little did Wendy Werris imagine that when she began a temp job at a Hollywood bookstore in 1970 at age nineteen, she had embarked on a thirty-five year career that would stretch into a journey of self-discovery and literary enlightenment. In An Alphabetical Life, Werris reflects upon how she came to embrace the book culture as her singular way of being in the world. Her career began when the book business was conducted amid an atmosphere of civility and wry humor, and her memoir captures the essence of this time and the people she met along the way. The challenges she faced, in what was then a male-dominated industry, are also discussed - particularly in 1976 when she was one of only two women repping books in the entire country. In describing the hilarious, eccentric characters that were her colleagues, lovers, and partners in crime, the essence of retail bookselling comes alive. Among the figures she profiles are Henry Robbins, editor of The World According to Garp; Alan Kahn, then of Pickwick Bookshop in Los Angeles, now President of Barnes and Noble Publishing; and many great and memorable retail bookbuyers and authors.

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