Where Books and Business Meet

During my years at Penguin Canada I went to the Frankfurt Book Fair about twelve times. On my first visit, my feet swelled to such an extent that I had to walk around shoeless, in my stocking feet; later experiences included a serious case of food poisoning. I always felt intimidated when I was there: by the Italian women who dressed so beautifully and never looked harried, by the Canadian veterans like Anna Porter who seemed welcomed by everyone, and by my American and British Penguin colleagues who inevitably made me feel like an outcast from the colonies.

So I have to admit that the famed Frankfurt Book Fair has never been my favourite subject. Nevertheless, I found much that was charming and fascinating about A History of the Frankfurt Book Fair. Peter Weidhaas, the author, served as director of the fair from 1975 to 2000, so his book is filled with understandable enthusiasm and a completely German point of view. I found the later parts of the book to...