Not So Dusty: Tales of an Antiquarian Bookdealer

Anthony and Maryanne Chandor suffer a disaster when a scoundrel embezzles most of the working capital of their British-based computer software company. Determined not to sit about moaning, they move from Surrey to Bath. After Anthony had practised in a Bath Wednesday Market, he bought the lease of a hairdresser's shop near their flat in Brock Street, Bath, England. In Not So Dusty, Anthony recalls how they built up the bookshop from nothing, and explains the mysteries of the auction room, and what goes on in the dark world of the Ring. There are helpful instructions on how to deal with drunks, the ever-present problem of thieves, and the less ever-present but no less formidable problem of the seductress, flaunting herself before the imprisoned shopkeeper. Read of celebrities visiting the shop, of visits by other book dealers and about book fairs held all over the country. And lest we forget, the excitement of house calls, somehow always 'two hundred yards before a telephone kiosk and with white gates you can't miss...' - except when it's pitch dark on a winter's evening. Every page is both funny and informative, invaluable to anyone thinking of starting a book shop, and as pleasant a read as you are likely to find, enhanced by brilliant illustrations by Tim Jaques.