Jeff Deutsch has written an elegant and thoughtful encomium to bookstores, one filled with allusions, recollections, and reflections. He is well qualified for the task, having spent decades as a bookseller, most recently at Chicago’s famed Seminary Co-Op bookstore. His belief in the value of good bookstores, and his appreciation of booksellers, doesn’t have its roots in some romantic, misty-eyed nostalgia for days long gone. It’s built on careful thought and extensive reading, and, most of all, on deep engagement with book lovers and the places they build. The result is an intelligent reflection on connections. Connections between readers and books, books and other books, booksellers and readers, between reading and living. People build bookstores, but bookstores also help to build people. In Praise of Good Bookstores left me feeling optimistic about their future, and that’s no small achievement.

I might have missed this important and delightful book if it hadn’t been for the thoughtfulness of a friend at Princeton University Press. Bookstores are wonderful. So are generous friends.