A Bookstore in the Movies: Dan in Real Life

We rented a charming video the other day, Dan in Real Life (2007, PG-13), which featured a romantic encounter in a bookstore/tackle shop (now there’s a business idea!) between Steve Carrell and Juliette Binoche. The curmudgeonly bookstore owner is engrossed in a personal phone call when Binoche strolls in to inquire about a suitable book for her new boyfriend and he imperiously waves her away. She catches the eye of Carrell, who is a browsing customer and asks for his assistance.

He plays along as Binoche rattles off all the things she is looking for in a book, and scoops up titles from around the shelves. She winds down and then Carrell lays out his selections for her: some Emily Dickinson, some Neruda (which they both sigh over), “Anna Karenina”, a biography of Gandhi (Carrell justifies this choice “because he is the coolest guy ever”) and a children’s book, “Everyone Poops” by Taro Gomi (one of my kids’ favorites when they were little) for levity.

Here’s where the movie veers off into sheer fantasy; Binoche, without looking at one price tag, declares that all of the books picks are perfect and declares to the now-available bookstore owner that she will take them all. Hah! My own Dan in Real Life and I do a lot of book recommendations in the course of a day’s work at our used bookstore, and not once in twelve years has someone slavishly followed our suggestions. We have achieved a reputable bit of handselling success, particularly around the holidays when last minute shoppers zip in and out quickly, but scoring 5 out of 5 is unbelievable. Similarly, it is the rare customer that just racks up a pile of books on the counter without glancing at the price on the front flyleaf.

Despite this lapse into science fiction, the movie was an intelligent and interesting romantic comedy that the whole family enjoyed. The kids got hooked when they found out Dane Cook was involved and the adults enjoyed the interesting characters and side plots. And a bookstore scene always rocks.

Jeeves and Wooster

All through the damp Spring and early Summer we have enjoyed watching episodes of the BBC's four seasons of "Jeeves and Wooster", based on the humorous novels by P.G. Wodehouse. I managed to lure my kids into watching them after explaining that the hapless, bumbling Bertie Wooster was played by the same actor as now stars in the mordant medical series "House" (Hugh Laurie). Also impeccable is Stephen Frey as the omnipotent butler Jeeves. Keeping this all book-related, I can vouch for Stephen Frey's talents as an author (his boarding-school memoir "Moab is my Washpot" is very interesting and astonishingly honest) and Laurie is no slouch at the writing desk either with cult favorite "The Gunseller".

Laurie's own description of how Wodehouse changed his life when he read him as a gormless teen is very amusing and can be viewed here.

For the uninitiated, Bertie Wooster is a young gentlemen of means but no discernible occupation who travels about country estates, golfs, hangs out at his club with Gussie Fink-Nottle, Barmy Figgy-Phipps and Stilton Cheesewright, among other improbably-named mooks, and fends off innumerable marital engagements and other kinds of entanglements from various formidable aunties. Jeeves is his lifesaver and friend, who always rescues Bertie from these fixes and keeps him from even more dangerous fashion faux-pas. The Wodehouse novels themselves are a treat, but the four seasons of this television series bring the characters and scenery to life vividly, especially when Laurie tickles the ivories and belts out ridiculous 1920s pop song lyrics. The fashions are a hoot, the toe-tapping jazz intro swings, the convoluted upper-crust lingo is hilarious and the toothsome automobiles are a visual feast.

It takes a long while to digest this madcap series, but it is highly recommended for dreary days when a bit of escapism is required. Put on a nice pot of tea, rustle up some scones and enjoy this delightful retreat.