There’s nowt as strange as folk, particularly it seems, folk who frequent book shops. More Weird Things That Customers Say in Bookshops is a follow up to the book of almost the same name by bookseller, poet and writer Jen Campbell.
Both are collections of the funny, cute and occasionally, distinctly disturbing things many of which Jen personally experienced, including at the signing session for the first Weird Things… but there is also a wide and wacky variety from booksellers around the world with some perceptive illustrations by the Brothers McLeod.
More information, including links to her short stories and poems But in the meantime, here are a few gems to whet your appetite.
(OVERHEARD): ‘’What’s so great about The Great Gatsby anyway? Was he a superhero or something?’’
***
CUSTOMER: I’m looking for a book about the Holocaust; my daughter’s very interested in World War II. But I don’t want it to be a sad book.
BOOKSELLER: … Not a sad one?
CUSTOMER: No. No sad bits at all.
****
LITTLE GIRL (pointing at Dr Seuss books): I made a hat for my cat, but he won’t wear it. That book is full of lies.
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CUSTOMER: What is the first name of the author Anonymous?
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CUSTOMER: Do you have any of those books on symbols and stuff?
BOOKSELLER: What type of symbols do you mean?
CUSTOMER: You know, like a horseshoe – which I know is good luck – but what I want to know is: what does it mean when someone puts a dead bird through my letterbox?
BOOKSELLER: … I think it means they don’t like you.
****
CUSTOMER (pointing at the books on the shelves): Are these real books?
BOOKSELLER … Yes
CUSTOMER: So, they’re not e-books? They’re real? I can look at them?
BOOKSELLER: … Yes
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