Shaun of the Dread

Remainders of the Day
A Bookshop Diary
By Shaun Bythell
Godine, Boston, 2022

“A long-continued spell of novel reading makes its own peculiar mark on a man’s character. His eyes have a dreamy, far-away look, he take little interest in passing events, he is comparatively careless as to the opinions of the men and women he meets, he forgets names and faces, he neglects social duties, and his dearest delight is to lie in bed all Sunday reading his novel.”
~ R. M. Williamson, Bits from an Old Bookshop

Took a break from my recent diet of formula thrillers by reading this, the fourth book in a series from Shaun Bythell, a curmudgeonly Scottish bookseller from Wigtown. It was an astringent cleanser of my literary palate.

I’ve read the other three Bookseller titles by Bythell and found this one to be in similar vein. Shaun is a bit cranky, justifiably so in the case of his most dreadful customers, his fights with Amazon and the bookshop’s balky boiler. He tempers his ire with ‘affectionate’ Pickwickian portraits of the denizens of this small town. A sub-theme running through the book is the sorrow of losing his long-time customers (to death and dispersion) and having to sort through their bookish remainders, the pun in the title is most appropriate. This melancholy is counterbalanced by his remarkably supportive friends and his eccentric staff (“Today was Lucy’s final day in the shop. She’s been honest, reliable and surly. One couldn’t ask for more from an employee.”) Things come to a peak with the annual Wigtown Festival, which involves nearly the whole community. For all his sourness, Shaun rises to the occasion and a (mostly) splendid time is had by all. Shaun’s writing style is conversational and engaging.

I guess the best recommendation is that the book made me want to visit Wigtown, maybe not during Festival week, but sometime in the warmer months, when Shaun doesn’t have to rely on that recalcitrant boiler. There are several charming (if a bit primitive) places to stay in the town.

Thanks, DJ Cousin Mary, for steering this my way!