The Seven Steps Plan

Some years back I briefly had a blog called "4-Bit Lit," in which I briefly reviewed books I found in the sale bin at area libraries. I deemed these to be a "serendipitous collection [that exists] because of factors beyond the reach of publishers and marketers, subject, . . . to some invisible hand, not subject to conscious manipulation." Not the books winnowed from library collections as they aged and worn out, but books donated to them and placed on carrels for immediate sale, only marginally sorted, if at all. And which I had not previously read.

As with most of my good ideas, and I suppose as with most writers, I soon moved on to other things -- or got lazy, or both. But I recently re-discovered some of the entries, and thought I might share some here, from time to time.

I opened with The Seven Stairs, by Stuart Brent. My review ran as follows:

This is the story of a man who, in 1946, opened a bookstore in downtown Chicago, “on a G.I. loan for three hundred dollars and a pocketful of dreams.” It’s well written, and a fun ride for anyone who likes books and who perhaps imagines someday being a bookseller – or at least did so in the pre-Amazonian past. Brent writes like the bookseller he set out to be, knowingly, persuasively, enthusiastically. Literary luminaries people the pages (once the initial start-up days are passed), and it becomes obvious that the world of words and writing can be as compelling as any other.


It’s the story of a man, who wanted to sell books because he loved literature, and who managed to stay in business by realizing that love is not enough, no matter how noble the object or well-intentioned the lover. Through luck, hard work, self-acknowledged naivety and a self-described refusal to face what his accountant called reality, he did manage to sell books for more than 40 years, moving from a dilapidated tiny seven-step walk-up storefront (the Seven Stairs bookstore of the title) to a fancy Michigan Avenue address. His first customer, a “fat and strong and daring” woman, came in and asked for a book he didn’t have – [but managed to obtain? (he doesn't say]. In the years since that clientele grew to include many stars of the literary and entertainment world, including Studs Terkel, Stephen Spender, Katherine Hepburn and Saul Bellow. Still, it’s obvious that Brent never pushed aside an everyday customer in favor of a late arrival, regardless of the latter’s connections or status.


The happy fact is that, relying on his “naive faith in the necessity for selling good books,” against all (or at least most) odds he built and lived his dream. This book will renew your faith in all that’s good about books and bookstores and book lovers.


P.S. One added feature to The Seven Stairs is Brent’s appended list of his “Best One Hundred Books,”,broken down by category, i.e., Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain while eating alone, The Collected Stories of John O’Hara while in the tub, and the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn when one simply wants a good book. And so on. The list alone is worth the price of admission.