Hacker Cinema
The Booksellers
2020 · Film · documentary · 99 min
Directed by D.W. Young
What once seemed like an esoteric world now seems essential to our culture: the community of rare book dealers and collectors who, in their love of the delicacy and tactility of books, are helping to keep the printed word alive. D.W. Young’s elegant and entertaining documentary, executive produced by Parker Posey, is a lively tour of New York’s book world, past and present, from the Park Avenue Armory’s annual Antiquarian Book Fair, where original editions can fetch hundreds of thousands of dollars; to the Strand and Argosy book stores, still standing against all odds; to the beautifully crammed apartments of collectors and buyers. The film features a litany of special guests, including Fran Lebowitz, Susan Orlean, Gay Talese, and a community of dedicated book dealers who strongly believe in the wonder of the object and the everlasting importance of what’s inside.
2 positivefrom 2 commenters
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2 comments on Hacker News
A nice slice-of-life article. The world of used and rare booksellers has always been fascinating and alluring to me, a lover of books.
Books like "Club Dumas" (upon which the great yet unfortunately directed movie "Ninth Gate" is based) as well that offer a fictionalized peek into the world I find utterly captivating.
For folks that enjoy the article I highly recommend the 2019 documentary "The Booksellers." Such great stuff. I someday hope to be fortunate enough to be something more than an amateur collector, though I wonder if having the means to simply buy the editions you want outright rather than having to hunt them down might somewhat diminish the thrill :)
If you enjoy old books, the documentary The Booksellers was enjoyable. Saw it on Kanopy through local library card.