Author Jeff Deutsch: “In Praise of Good Bookstores”

This recording is presented in partnership by Princeton Public Library, Labyrinth Books, Classics Books of Trenton, Princeton University’s Humanities Council, and Princeton University Press. The author discusses the importance of bookstores with fellow booksellers Dorothea von Moltke, owner of Princeton’s Labyrinth Books, and Eric Maywar, owner of Classics Books in Trenton.

In his book “In Praise of Good Bookstores,” Deutsch, director of Chicago’s Seminary Co-op Bookstores, one of the finest bookstores in the world, pays tribute to one of our most important and endangered civic institutions.

He considers how qualities like space, time, abundance and community find expression in a good bookstore. In exploring why good bookstores matter, Deutsch draws on his lifelong experience as a bookseller, devoted reader and also his upbringing as an Orthodox Jew.

Bookstores, like libraries, are essential places of discovery, refuge and fulfillment that enrich the communities that are lucky enough to have them. This event will celebrate bookstores, libraries and the readers who love both.

This event was recorded on April 10, 2022.

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