Evan

Friss

Bestselling Author

Professor of History

Travels from: Harrisonburg, VA

“If you love books, and bookstores, you’re absolutely going to love Evan Friss’s The Bookshop… ‘That bookstores continue to endure is, in some ways, something of a miracle,’ Friss writes in his introduction. But we’re so thankful they do—and that there’s this tribute to them.” — Town & Country‘s “39 Must-Read Books of Summer 2024”

Evan Friss is an award-winning and New York Times bestselling author. He’s a professor of history at James Madison University and has written for The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and other popular outlets.

His latest book, The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore, was published by Viking in 2024. A New York Times bestseller, the book earned starred reviews in Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews; was named a “must-read” by the Los Angeles Times, Town & Country, Lit Hub, and The Millions; and garnered rave reviews in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and many other publications.

People named it the “Book of the Week,” Time included The Bookshop in its “100 Must-Read Books of 2024,” and the Christian Science Monitor called it a “Best Book of 2024.” According to Lit Hub, The Bookshop was the #2 best reviewed nonfiction book of the year. The Bookshop also won the Goodreads Choice Award as the top pick in the History & Biography category.

Evan's Featured Titles

Why Are Bookstores Different From All Other Stores?

In this talk, I capture what’s unique about bookstores and how those qualities have enabled the bookshop, a precarious institution, to endure.

What if THE BOOKSHOP went on House Hunters?

Using the popular HGTV show as a (somewhat comical) thought experiment, I explore how the bookshop, as an institution, has evolved over time from being private and un-browsable to inviting spaces that entertained and occasionally even had a “wow” factor.

The Power of Books

Drawing on the long history of book-making, book-reading, and book-selling, I explore how books have influenced American life and culture.

“A spirited defense of this important, odd and odds-defying American retail category.” — The New York Times

“Serious browsers will love this history of American bookstores . . . . Lively. . . . [Friss] has produced a work of popular history that is both entertaining and informative.” — The Washington Post

“Fascinating. . . . A heartfelt, essential love letter to the literary sanctuary of bookstores and the people who run them.” — People magazine, “Book of the Week”

“If you love books, and bookstores, you’re absolutely going to love Evan Friss’s The Bookshop. . . . ‘That bookstores continue to endure is, in some ways, something of a miracle,’ Friss writes in his introduction. But we’re so thankful they do—and that there’s this tribute to them.” — Town & Country

Evan’s Events

Evan’s Media

Honors, Awards & Recognition

New York Times Bestseller
Goodreads Choice Award, History & Biography (2024)
Time’s 100 Must-Read Books of 2024
The New Yorker’s Best Books of 2024
People magazine’s Book of the Week
Literary Hub’s Best Reviewed Nonfiction of 2024
Christian Science Monitor‘s Best Books of 2024