A lively cultural history of the book from a charmingly idiosyncratic bookseller.

'The right book has a neverendingness, and so does the right bookshop.'

This is the story of our love affair with books, whether we arrange them on our shelves, inhale their smell, scrawl in their margins, or just curl up with them in bed. Taking us on a journey through comfort reads, street book stalls, mythical libraries, itinerant peddlers, radical pamphleteers, extraordinary bookshop customers, and fanatical collectors, Canterbury bookseller Martin Latham uncovers the curious history of our book obsession--and his own.

Part cultural history, part literary love letter, and part reluctant memoir, this is the tale of one bookseller and many, many books.