Product Description

A charming entertainment that captures the romance of books and bookshops.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1439289 in Books
• Published on: 2000-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 265 pages

From the Publisher
“When you sell a man a book,” says Roger Mifflin, protagonist of these classic bookselling novels, “you don’t sell him just twelve ounces of paper and ink and glue — you sell him a whole new life.” The new life the itinerant bookman delivers to Helen McGill, the narrator of Parnassus on Wheels, provides the romantic comedy that drives the novel. Published in 1917, Morley’s Þrst love letter to the trafÞc in books remains a transporting entertainment. Its sequel, The Haunted Bookshop, Þnds Mifflin and McGill, now married, ensconced in Brooklyn. The novel’s rollicking plot provides ample doses of diversion, while allowing more room for Mifflin (and Morley) to expound on the intricacy of the bookseller’s art. Introduction by James Mustich, Jr.

Customer Reviews

Delightful old-fashioned book about bookselling and reading
Usually the sequel is never as good as the original, but in this case, The Haunted Bookshop is even better than the first volume, Parnassus on Wheels. If you are a booklover, you will thoroughly enjoy both. This story is set in Brooklyn just after the close of WWI. The descriptions of the city made me feel like I was really there. The book is filled with observations about books and bookselling. Although the romance woven into the plot was somewhat sentimental, the book did have its serious side, and is stronger on plot than the first volume was. The bookseller and his wife are thoroughly enjoyable and likable people. It was really fun to read about city life early in the century, when milk wagons and bakery wagons still made deliveries, and apothecaries mixed prescriptions right on the premises instead of counting out pills from a bottle from the pharmaceutical company. This was a very refreshing book, and the observations it contained about reading have not gone out of date.

For the bibliophile in all of us
Okay, so I admit, the cover attracted me to the book. It wouldn't be the first time that this has happened. And the title was alluring(considering that I've worked in a bookstore for years upon years and now spend my working hours in a library, is it any wonder?) And so, The Haunted Bookshop and Parnassus on Wheels in hand, I made my way to a chair by a window and found comfort in Christopher Morley's words.

"Did you ever notice how books track you down and hunt you out?...it follows you and follows you and drives you into a corner and makes you read it...Words cannot describe the cunning of some books."

That was all it took, all the motivation I needed, to buy the book. The story itself kept me reading. Roger Mifflin, owner of "the haunted bookshop," is a man after my own heart. Some may find him a bit stuffy, perhaps just a tad bit pretentious(though charmingly so)in nature, but he's a man that knows the importance of books. In fact, he can choose the perfect book for a customer just by looking at him. Now that's a talent I'd like to have.

Besides all of the book loving goin' on, the novel is peopled with charming characters, all trying to solve a mystery between reading and taking out the Mifflin's dog. The mystery is a little slow going at first, but soon after, as things fall into place, it becomes quite the page turner.

All in all, a lovely book that any bibliophile will treasure.

A Surprisingly Intriguing Mystery
Published at a time when booksellers were concerned that "speechless movies" would destroy the book trade, and the action hero of the day was Tarzan, The Haunted Bookshop stands up to any modern novel of political intrigue. The story line revolves around the events at the end of World War I. President Wilson, the upcoming peace talks, and a disappearing copy of Oliver Cromwell's speeches all come together in a mystery that is full of surprises.

Roger Mifflin, the proprietor of the Haunted Bookshop, is saddened to think he shall die with thousands of books unread. Yet, he finds the time to uncover a plot by a group of German thugs and prevents a tragedy that could have changed the course of world history. Allow yourself some time to stick with this book and like a visit to the Haunted Bookshop itself, you will find yourself exploring a fascinating place with many twists and turns just waiting to be discovered.