title: Sixpence House: Lost in A Town Of Books
author:  Paul Collins 
description: Hay-on-Wye, a Welsh town of 1,500, is heaven on earth for people who love books, especially old books. It has 40 bookstores, and if you can't find what you want in one of them, you can fork over 50 pence and visit the field behind the town castle, where thousands more long-forgotten books languish under a sprawling tarp. McSweeney's contributor Collins moved his wife and baby son from San Francisco to Hay a few years ago, intending to settle there. This book is Collins's account of the brief period when he organized American literature in one of the many used-book stores, contemplated and abandoned the idea of becoming a peer in the House of Lords, tried to buy an affordable house that wasn't falling apart (a problem when most of the buildings are at least a century old) and revised his first book (Banvard's Folly). Collins can be quite funny, and he pads his sophomore effort with obscure but amusing trivia (how many book lovers know that the same substance used to thicken fast-food milk shakes is an essential ingredient in paper resizing?), but it's hard to imagine anyone beyond bibliophiles and fellow Hay-lovers finding enough here to hold their attention. Witty and droll though he may be, Collins fails to give his slice-of-life story the magic it needs to transcend the genre. <br />Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
zlib_text: 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  SIXPENCE & WHISKEY
  
  
  By
  
  
  
  
  
  HEATHER R. BLAIR
  
  
  Kindle Edition
  
  
  
  
  
  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or
  used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the
  publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
  
  
  
  
  
  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, organizations and
  incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used
  fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or
  organizations is entirely coincidental.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Kindle Edition, License Notes
  
  
  
  
  
  This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not
  be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book
  with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If
  you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for
  your use only, then please return to your favorite e-book retailer an