The Bookseller

by Matt Cohen

Paul Stevens is a bookseller in the marginalized world of used books, a lover of Flaubert and Dickens, young, unsure of himself - until he meets Judith and is drawn into her secret world.

Genres: Fiction, Books About Books, Contemporary, Canada

242 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Matt Cohen studied political economy at the University of Toronto, and taught political philosophy and religion at McMaster University in the late 1960s before publishing his first novel, Korsoniloff, in 1969.

His greatest popular success as a writer was his final novel, Elizabeth and After, which won the 1999 Governor General's Award for English-language Fiction only a few weeks before his death. He had been nominated twice previously, but had not won, in 1979 for The Sweet Second Summer of Kitty Malone and in 1997 for Last Seen.

A founding member of the Writers' Union of Canada, he served on the executive board for many years and as president in 1986. During his presidency the Writer's Union was finally able to persuade the government of Canada to form a commission and establish a Public Lending Right program. He also served on the Toronto Arts Council as chair of the Literary Division and was able to obtain increased funding for writers. In recognition of this work he was awarded a Toronto Arts Award and the Harbourfront Prize.

Cohen died after a battle with lung cancer. A Canadian literary award, the Matt Cohen Prize - In Celebration of a Writing Life, is presented in Cohen's memory by the Writer's Trust of Canada.

He also published a number of children's books under the pseudonym Teddy Jam. Cohen's authorship of the Teddy Jam books was not revealed until after his death. The Fishing Summer was also nominated for a Governor General's Award for children's literature in 1997, making Cohen one of the few writers ever to be nominated for Governor General's Awards in two different categories in the same year.

A film adaptation of his 1990 novel Emotional Arithmetic has been produced by Triptych films starring Max von Sydow, Christopher Plummer, Gabriel Byrne and Susan Sarandon. It was the closing Gala at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2007.

Reviews

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Κρατάει το ενδιαφέρον μέχρι το τέλος χωρίς να κουράζει αλλά και χωρίς να προξενεί έντονες συγκινήσεις.

[Dimitra Hellsing · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ο paul με τον αδερφό του ζουν μαζί ακομα και μετά τον θάνατο του πατέρα τους . Ο μεγάλος του αδερφός ειναι ένας ρεαλιστικός χαρακτήρας που του αρέσει να δουλεύει και να είναι ανεξάρτητος το οποίο κατάφερε απο την Ηλικία των 15. Ο πολ ειναι ένας ανεμελιά ρομαντικός τύπος που ερωτεύτηκε μια παντρεμένη γυναίκα και ζει πίσω από την σκιά του αδερφού του. Το βιβλίο μπορώ να πω ότι το έφτασα στην μεση πρώτη φορά ταυτίστηκα με τον χαρακτήρα. Ο πολ αγαπάει πολύ τα βιβλια τα βάζει καθημερινά στην ζωή του και ταυτίζει καμια φορά αυτα με την πραγματικότητα. Με την καθημερινότητα του. Τωρα καπου εδω θελω να πω είναι ότι ταιριάζει απόλυτα που ειναι λιγο θα το πω ελαφροισκιοτος , γιατι ειναι κατι που χαρακτηρίζει τον παιδικό ευαίσθητο και αθώο εαυτό του. Γενικα ο πιο ειναι φτερό στον άνεμο που συνδιασει την ζωή του με τα βιβλια τα βάζει ένα ένα στις σελίδες με αναφορές με μεγάλους συγγραφείς οπως ο Ουγκο .
Ένα ευχάριστο βιβλιο αν και πολύ αργό για να περάσεις τα καλοκαιρινά σου απογεύματα

[Janet Berkman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel had good bones, but it seemed to take longer than necessary to tell the story. Ot maybe I just needed something more compelling to read at the moment, competing as it did with HBO.

[Oktober · Rating 1 out of 5]

wieder ein Buch, das ich absolut nicht zu Ende lesen konnte. nach gut 2/3 habe ich abgebrochen. die Handlung fand ich nervig (es geht um die On/Off-Beziehung zweier Drogis, die zufällig in einer Buchhandlung arbeiten und noch ein bisschen um den Bruder, der anfängt krumme Dinger zu drehen) und den Protagonisten einfach unsympathisch. keine erkennbaren Spannungsbögen oder irgendwas, was zum Weiterlesen motiviert.

[ken]

i didn't expect the laborious toil that i had to get through (and didn't, seeing as i abandoned the book) about what i assume to be the source of the narrator's neuroses, his brother and childhood abandonment. the novel was fine but its supposed draw, what the book offers up by way of summary and blurb, doesn't come until much, much later. so much later that i only caught glimpses of it! didn't even make it to the part where he reads flaubert. i didn't even get to meet judith!!!

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I added this to my books about bookstores list because of the title. It was a pleasant and unexpected read, and set in Toronto. For some unconnected reason several of my last reads talked of boxing and pool halls.
I enjoyed the story and put Matt Cohen on my list of authors to read. He seems to have been quite well known in Canadian literature.
It’s a story of brothers family and relationships.

[Marilena Turquoise · Rating 3 out of 5]

A perfect read for the subway. The characters are very melancholic but there is no drama in the story. It follows the reality of the hero through friendship, love, drugs, family. During this djourney, some people reflect upon themselves, others die or get trapped in the circle of addiction, some mature and others, become, even temporarily, ultimately happy.

[Rebeka · Rating 1 out of 5]

Από το τίτλο και μόνο πίστευα ότι πρόκειται για ένα καλό βιβλίο γεμάτο αναγνώσεις και ταξίδια στους κόσμους των βιβλίων. Με απογοήτευσε όμως πολύ γρήγορα και το άφησα μισοτελειωμένο. Δεν κατάλαβα ποτέ ποια ήταν η ιστορία αυτού του βιβλίου, δεν πιστεύω ότι καταλήγει κάπου. Δεν θα το σύστηνα !!!

[Kieran Darnell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great stuff, could do with a reprinting due to a couple typos, but yeah great Canadiana piece. Totally resonate with the vivid, blue Toronto Cohen paints for us. Also love the stylistic choices for narrative voice, very cinematic, uncanny almost in the way he maintains a certain ambiguity toward setting and characterisation. There’s a haze around every sentence, description, and I love that

[Tom Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Bookseller" is a novel about relationships between people - between family members, lovers, employers, and even enemies. It is about the complexity of those relationships and how they can both nuture and exploit and how they can be a mixture of both. The most complex relationship in the novel is between Paul, the narrator, his brother Henry and the cop, Nicko Ross. Paul discovers that Henry is problem gambler perpetually in debt and in debt to the crooked cop Ross. he also discovers that Ross is also protecting Henry from others that he owes money to. It is a quiet novel full of insight about the nature of these relationships.