When I moved to South Florida in 1989 Books & Books was the only decent bookstore in town, independent or otherwise. Certainly, the only one I knew about. Jim Hall took me in and introduced me to Mitchell. I was so happy to be here after life in small Southern bookstore-less towns. The world of bookselling has changed dramatically in those years, and so has Books& Books. It’s better than it ever was. It’s the center of literary life in South Florida. It’s a shrine. Every book publisher in the country knows that Miami is the place to launch a book tour, and by Miami they mean, of course, Books & Books. Without Mitchell and the gang, without the readings, without the community of writers nurtured by Books & Books, living in Miami would be a lot like living in–I’ll say it–West Palm Beach.
John Dufresne
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