Korting Second-Hand Books – O. J. M. Davis

In a quirky and engaging narrative, O. J. M. Davis delivers a highly personal overview of the second-hand book world born out of bitter-sweet experience. From posing the question ‘What is a Book For?’, he goes on to illuminate every corner of the business, from the obsessiveness of the collector to the hyperbole of catalogues, from manoeuvres at auction houses to tooth-and-nail battles in church halls. There are unexpected angles: not only the stresses and strains of the life of a bookseller (complete with …