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"Customer: I read a book in the eighties. I don't remember the author, or the title. But it was green, and it made me laugh. Do you know which one I mean?"
—Jen Campbell writes down the funny things people say in bookshops. [Via]
Gaaaaaaaah, this reminds me of when I worked at a bookstore years ago. This is how most of the college kids would ask for their textbooks (and this was after they had been waiting on line for at least an hour – our store was small): "uh, I don't know the class or the professor's name, but I think the book is blue with red lettering?"
Me: "NO. NEXT!!!"
I love how the most reasonable inquiry is:
"Do you have any old porn magazines?"
(It's a vintage book store.)
The book was obviously The Giving Tree.
"Do you have any books by Dickens?"
"No, we’re a travel bookshop. We only sell travel books."
"Oh, right. How about that new John Grisham thriller?"
"No, that’s a novel too."
"Oh, right. Have you got a copy of ‘Winnie the Pooh’?"
- 'Notting Hill'
So it must be a British thing.
Anyone who has ever worked in a bookstore can attest to the authenticity of this.
@dabbyfanny I was gonna comment again to say that I read her other entries and all of those have happened to me as well.
@dabbyfanny Oh me too. Is it self indulgent to think that I totally would be able to find the funny green 80's book?
I used to work in a library. This has happened to me before! And the lady got mad at me for not knowing which big red book she was talking about!
I love Ripping Yarns! Their window is so beautiful.
I went to college in the town where A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius was mostly set (I hear–haven't actually read it). So when my mom heard it was set there, she started going to Borders, et al to get it for me but could never remember the name. She said she would always find someone who worked there and tell them she was looking for some variation on "An Incredible…Thing…With Really Great…Somethinorother…" and they would never know what she was talking about.
I used to work at a video store (not as classy as books, I know), and we'd get a lot of this, too. I got pretty good at figuring out the name of that movie "with the guy, from that other movie, with the hair. You know that guy?"
Cosmetics is an…interesting field where we get these kinds of questions all the time. "I'm looking for a fragrance I've worn exclusively, everyday, for about 15 years…but I can't remember what it's called. I know what the bottle looks like, I'll just walk around until I see it."
I was recently asked if there were any fragrances "made by the descendants of Adolf Hitler. I have German nephews, and I want to buy them a little something." I think I made the confused face dogs make when you're talking to them, complete with the head tilt.
I work at a university library (holla ILL) and someone recently came to the information desk and asked if there was an "adult" section in the library.
My bookstore years fav was when someone came in and asked for Covered Bridges over a Purple River. Believe it or not they were looking for "A River Runs Through It" and not "The Bridges of Madison County" [my top two choices of what they might actually be looking for].
I also had a friend who worked at a large university library who had a student come in and ask for help finding information about "Malcolm the 10th" [Malcolm X]!