Nobody Quite Like The Book People

A.J. Fikry, the persnickety bookseller, in one of the most charming books I have read recently, remarks on how difficult it is to write about things we love. Which is why you will find this review going all over the place and still not fully convey much of what I felt, inhaled, appreciated while reading Gabrielle Zevin’s The Collected Works of A.J. Fikry.

We are not quite novels……. We are not quite short stories…… In the end we are collected works…..He has read enough to know there are no collections where each story is perfect. Some hits. Some misses.

Books can take us wherever we want to go. There are those that take us to exotic and amazing places on this planet and beyond: where we meet adventure, excitement, and danger. And, then there are some that bring us home. No matter where I go seeking thrills, it is home where my soul nestles in belongingness. Reading ‘The Collected Works of A.J. Fikry’ is like coming home. Betwixt its pages, booklovers will share the lives of characters they can identify with, hear their thoughts, and spend time with those who will soon become their book best-friends. Also, books that talk about books and reading, or have anything to do with both, have a coveted place on my reading list.

A.J. Fikry is the central character and owner of a Victorian purple cottage over which hangs the sign:

Island Books

                                            No Man is an Island. Every Book is a World.

Contrary to the signature statement of his bookstore, A.J. has become an island after losing his wife in a road accident and isolating himself from his friends, relatives, and the community. Into the life of this lonely man in his late-thirties, steps in 2 year old Maya, a baby girl abandoned in his bookstore. She comes with a note addressed to the bookstore owner that shares the mother’s wish for her daughter to grow up ‘in a place with books and among people who care about those kind of things’. Before he knows it A. J. has become a ‘Daddy’!

He gets by with a little help from his friends: the soft-hearted tough cop Lambiase, writer Daniel Price, his sister-in-law and Daniel’s wife Ismay, and Amelia, the sales rep of a publishing company and later his lady love. How will life turn out for this eclectic bunch? Will they discover the truth behind Maya's abandonment? Will A.J. and Maya find happiness together? How well do we really know those whom we profess to know?

A.J.  is quite an oddball who grows on you with time. I started with a slightly indifferent attitude towards him and wasn’t very invested in his future or his 'Fikrisms' ; then slowly, unknowingly, without any conscious effort on my part, I found myself looking forward to what he had to say next.

“….my latter-day reaction speaks to the necessity of encountering stories at precisely the right time in our lives. Remember, Maya: the things we respond to at twenty are not necessarily the same things we will respond to at forty and vice versa. This is true in books and also in life.”

“If something is good and universally acknowledged to be so, this is not reason enough to dislike it.”

It didn’t take me long to want him to come out of his shell and grab his chance of happiness with Amelia. His idiosyncrasies only added to my slow-in-building but sure fondness for him.  He favours short stories, has decided preferences in reading which govern what he stocks at Island Books, and strongly dislikes apocalyptic settings, post mortem narrators, magic realism, genre mash-ups, YA, and all things vampire! (I think it was the dislike for vampires which touched a chord: can't stand books with vampires either, excepting Dracula)

While I adored Maya, and learned to like A.J, it was Lambiase, the cop and host of Chief’s Choice book club, who won my heart with his concern for and acceptance of others. Amelia, who wears nail paint in accordance with her mood and always reads the whimsical names that the nail paint bottles carry for each shade, was a perfect partner for A.J. I was sad for Ismay at having to go through the pain of infidelity but wanted her to take a stronger stand in defining her life and make better choices. In this, she disappointed me for the majority of the book. Daniel Price was a classic narcissist and I felt nothing but disgust for his weak will, self-centredness, and womanizing ways. For a sedate tale, this book arouses surprisingly strong emotions!

Populated with engaging characters, a quirky bookstore, and a warm community, this book blends humor, philosophy, fate, and the unpredictability of life into a delicious hot chocolate that slides down lovingly to reach your soul while warming your heart, and leaves a lasting aftertaste.

In the tradition of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, and 84 Charing Cross Road (two of my all-time favorites), the book grips us not because of the plot (nothing twisty, or chilling, or thrilling, or scary happens) or the pace (which chugs along at best) but for that coveted element of genuine connection with other humans, the inclusion of which makes a story special and memorable. The lyrical language and literary references to books and writers adds greatly to its appeal and those with a love of reading will find much to treasure in this touching tale that shares complex conundrums disguised in simple words. 

Before I end the post, worded by none other than my favorite cop Lambiose, here’s a toast to the book people!

“I’ve seen movie people on vacation and I’ve seen music people and news people, too. There isn’t nobody in the world like book people. It’s a business of gentlemen and gentlewomen.”