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                                              An interview with Erik Heywood, owner of Book/Shop                                                                                                               

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+ Describe your job

Some people like to read on a screen. Other people need the variety and artistry, the sight, smell, and feel of actual books. They love seeing them on their shelves; they love having shelves for them. They love taking them along when they leave the house and stacking them by their bedside. They love finding old letters and bookmarks in them. They like remembering where they bought them or who they received them from. They are allergic to cheap bestsellers; they delight in the out-of-the-way and the rare, the well-made and the hard-to-accomplish. They take care of their books, they hesitate to crack spines. They want to read in a way that offers a rich experience, more than the words only: the full offering of a book. They are particular about covers, they want to surround themselves with poetry. They can't pass a bookstore without going in and getting something, they keep a library card and use it. These are the people I'm working for. 

+ A brief bio...

I was born in the desert, I have lived in the mountains and large cities, now I live near the ocean. I left school early to sell antiques, and I've spent my life in love with books and design.

+ How did Book/Shop come about?

It's been a way to turn my various book-related blogs and design background into an engaging retail experiment (engaging for me, at least!). I designed every aspect & I continue to work on new, exclusive products.

+ Favorite local places 
The walk from my house to College Avenue, past all the flowery front yards and shingled houses of my neighbors, Moore Used Books, located in a little white house with narrow stairs and high windows that face the Mendocino coast, Armstrong Woods, the snack bar at Lake Anza, Jeff Maser's enormous warehouse of rare books (the smell in there is the smell I love best)... 

+ Favorite magazine/ books

Magazines: Correspondencia, The White Review, Slightly Foxed, the Times Literary Supplement, The Redwood Coast Review, World of Interiors, mid-century issues of The Cornhill...

Books: I couldn't choose favorite books, but next to the bed right now are the diaries of James Lees-Milne, an oral biography of Truman Capote, Hans Obrist's conversations with Enzo Mari, a history of Penguin Books, Christopher Morely's writings on New York, ...

+ Dinner is....

Always something new. My wife Jessica is an excellent cook.

+ Listening to....

The Wild Nothing, Thomas Tallis, Julianna Barwick, Delius...

+Wishing for...

More time to read of course, and an ideal shop space...