Idler Academy manager Mr Mash introduces our top five sellers

I AM PLEASED to report that book sales are steadily on the increase here at the Idler, both over the counter and through our website. Last autumn we launched our monthly Book Club which has been a huge success. Each and every month Tom and I carefully select a title that we deem worthy of a place on your book shelf and send it out to you wherever you are in the world. Tom writes an essay to accompany the book and each one is wrapped up in brown paper and string by Henry, our mail order guru.

If you have visited our HQ in London you will have seen our selection of books on everything from music, philosophy, gardening, nature writing and fiction. I am steadily populating the web shop with all these books so even if you are in Australia you can have a browse. If there is anything special you need then do let me know and I can easily order it in for you. Just call the shop on 0207 221 5908 and I will be happy to help. In the meantime below is a list of the top 5 books that are flying out of the shop at the moment. They are available to purchase by clicking on the links to the right.

1. 10:04 by Ben Lerner (Granta) 

The expectations were high for Ben Lerner’s follow up to his critically acclaimed debut Leaving Atocha Station. Thankfully he does not disappoint. 10:04 is every bit as clever and funny as its predecessor. Written with Lerner’s trademark precision and eye for detail, we follow the narrator as he secures a large book deal for his second novel whilst struggling with a rare heart condition. It is full of brilliantly executed scenes that perfectly capture our internet addicted digital times.

2. Girl in a Band by Kim Gordon (Faber Social)

When news broke in 2011 that Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth were to split up after more than 25 years of marriage it was came as a shock to many. For so long they had seemed like the golden couple of indie rock. This is far more than a rock memoir though – Gordon’s writing is spare and poetic as she charts her life growing up in California in the 1960s and early 1970s through to the gritty excitement of New York city in the 1980s. Many famous names from music and the art world crop up but this is equally about what it takes to maintain a working relationship in a creative environment. A illuminating and inspiring read.

3. The Internet is not the Answer by Andrew Keen (Atlantic Books)

Rarely have I read a book and found myself nodding in agreement so much. Andrew Keen’s thesis that the internet has had a disastrous impact on our lives comes at a prescient moment as people begin to question whether we are spending too much of our time glued to our computers, tablets and phones. Rather than freeing us the internet has enslaved us as big corporations threaten our security and wreck our economies. Andrew will be visiting the idler for a talk with Will Self in June. Not to be missed.

 4. The Idler Guide to Classical Music by Sandy Burnett (Idler Books) 

Sandy Burnett has been teaching our Classical Music course for many years. It always sells out and we have great feedback from those students who have attended. His enthusiasm and knowledge of music is infectious and that certainly comes across in this pamphlet that we have recently published. It comes in a numbered hand sown edition that will surely become a collectors item in time to come.

 5. Lost World: England 1933 – 1936 by Dorothy Hartley (Prospect Books)

One of the most satisfying aspects of selling books is discovering a writer or book that you adore and reccommending it to others. This Dorothy Hartley book is a case in point. It is a collection of her Daily Sketch articles published in the 1930s concerning the English countryside. Hartley documents old English crafts and customs in her own inimitable style. The subjects range widely on matters as various as thatching, clog-making, eels, the country chemist, marram grass, sand shoes, crabs, sheep shearing, spring-cleaning, country kitchens, ploughing, weather lore, and elevenses. It is a charming book and was our Idler Book Club choice for March.

ENDS