Bernard Black lives: conversations with a bookseller!

Posted on | December 6, 2009 | Comments Off

phone call….

Hello, do you sell adult books?

Porn?

No, books with no pictures.

Yes, we have a few of those.

How much are they?

This is just one of a series of very funny (and more than a little disturbing) conversations between a second-hand bookseller and some of his ‘customers’. The BookMine, although now an online book store only, was once a ‘real’ shop with real shelves, doors and everything, in Sacramento, California. The owner evidently comes from that fine tradition of sardonic second-hand book sellers – a real Bernard Black!

Read the conversations and weep……

Thank you to Dan Hon for the link via Twitter.

And just one more conversation to whet your appetite:

phone call….

Hello, I have an old Bible for sale.

We don’t buy Bibles.

Why not?

Because.

This one is really old. It is pretty rare!

(pregnant pause)

How much will you give me for it?

Nothing.

But it’s rare.

I am sorry, but I am not interested.

How come?

There is no market for old Bibles.

How come?

I don’t know.

It is in really good shape. It belonged to my grandmother.

Why don’t you keep it?

I would, but she is dead.

All the more reason to keep it, I would think.

What do you mean?

I have to go now. I am pretty busy.

If she wasn’t dead, would you buy it?

Probably.

Sh*t!