When I told people I was visiting Rome, several people suggested I stop by the Almost Corner Bookstore. It sells English books in a cozy shop with wall-to-wall books. A center table stacks current bestsellers and books with Italy as the subject matter. Angels and Demons by Dan Brown, due to the release of the film, received the center spot. An observation from a customer who lives in Rome, “clearly Dan Brown didn’t visit Rome before he wrote the book.” For such a small store, they carried an impressive selection of genres, from English fiction and non-fiction to contemporary Chinese literature. I also noticed several bestsellers in paperback that were still in hardback in the US. [Aside: This always irritates me. I finished the third of the Millennium Trilogy, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, in paperback over the Christmas holidays because a friend bought it overseas. It won't be out in hardback here until May.]
The atmosphere was fun, when I visited two booksellers were holding court along with a professor from Cal State Los Angeles and an ex-pat who later delivered us to a terrific dinner restaurant. Their customers are tourists to a certain extent (apparently an Australian Cardinal drops in every time he’s in Rome to buy a novel for the plane ride home), but at least a third are English speaking Rome residents. Many Italians who read English books because book options are limited in Italian, the publishing world is smaller. The store’s bestsellers are detective and mystery books, even before the likes of Dan Brown, especially if the locale is Italy. Once Almost Corner buys a book, they keep it until it’s sold. While the store doesn’t sell used books, some of them may be very old.
Rome was the last stop on our trip to Italy and by the time I reached the Almost Corner Bookstore in the Trastevere neighborhood of Rome, I couldn’t help noticing lots of the small bookstores scattered throughout the country in both large and small cities. Finding a native English speaker and bookseller, I asked about the prevalence of bookstores everywhere. The answer, there isn’t competition. To buy a book is to buy it at the local bookstore. There are bookstore chains,Feltrinelli being the most prevalent, but the stores themselves aren’t huge and they haven’t permeated everywhere. But what about Amazon? I was shocked to learn that there is very little e-commerce in Italy. The Italians firmly believe that if they give their credit card online, the next day their entire bank account and retirement savings will be gone. Moreover, there isn’t anywhere for a book to be delivered. Most Italians live in apartments with small mailboxes and no one trusts their neighbors enough to leave a package by the mailboxes or the door to the apartment. The person I was talking to said that there isn’t evidence of mass theft from the mail; it’s just a cultural belief. I was stunned and asked what does an Italian do when a package is to be delivered? A few neighbors have their packages delivered to the bookstore, but mostly they simply do not receive packages. E-commerce hardly exists in Italy. I felt like I was stepping in the early 1980s before the advent of Borders, Barnes and Noble, and Amazon. Italian suspicion is saving the small store owner.
And that unique store name? Years ago the store was situated on the corner and was called Corner Bookstore. A larger space with better heating opened up down the block and the owner grabbed it and changed the name to Almost Corner Bookstore. If you are fortunate enough to be in Rome, stop by and chat. You may find a new but yellowed book to keep you company on the plane trip home.
For more English bookstores in Rome, check out Ron in Rome.
Almost Corner Bookstore
Via del Moro 45
Trastevere, Rome 00153
Tel: 39 06 583 6942
Tags: English bookstore in Italy, Italy, Italy bookstore, Rome, Rome bookstore, Trastevere bookstore
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Sounds like a great little shop. I’ll add it to my wish-list of places to visit in Rome… which is on my wish-list of places to visit. (grin)
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Dan came to our bookshop, GO INNISFREE!!! back when A&D was just a little book he and his wife were pushing to the indies, and we talked to him for almost 2 hours. since he was a nobody and no one came to the signing.
he did go to rome… and i believe he got an audience with the pope too… interesting!i really like that bit about e-commerce. you would think that everyone has become like the US with packages all the time, and its nice to know, its not true!
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Pingback from Bookstore People · Going for a (Maximum) Ride on April 16, 2010 at 7:27 am
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I’ve just blogged about this store on PublishingPerspectives.com– loved your thorough take on it after the fact, and your new-to-me anecdotes make me love this place even more. I also mulled over your observation about why so many bookshops can thrive in Rome. Imagine if we were all loyal to our local independent sellers? Love your blog.
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I knew Dermot O’Connell, the owner of the Almost Corner Bookshop many years ago In Ireland before he moved to Rome. Dermot is amazingly knowledgeable about books, particularly history and music. Any Handel lovers amongst you might like to know that he’s an authority on the composer. So if you’re in Rome, pay a visit to the shop and have a chat. You won’t regret it. That is one thing you can’t do on Amazon and it is what makes small bookshops special. They are treasures which we must never lose. If you visit the shop, tell Dermot Damien sent you.
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I am looking for a Polish Book
Siostra Alicja CR
It is a Polish Nun
Someone I know went to Italy and purchased this book.
Do you know where I can find it?
I am from the USA in New York
Thank You
Reply
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