That old proverb about a book and its cover – well, yes, it’s still true. But in the era of Zoom conference calls, we may be forgiven for judging people by their bookshelves.
Interview with Ken Gloss
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Waiting out the coronavirus crisis while working from home can mean inviting colleagues and business acquaintances into your private living quarters via online cameras. The laptop never blinks and famously captures wandering animals and housebound children, among other accidental activities.
What everyone logged on can always see is also what’s right over your shoulder. Very often that’s a bookshelf, and Ken Gloss, a Boston-based antiquarian bookseller, is ready to help you make the right impression—virtually at least.
In the COVID19 era, the popularity of Zoom puts a digital imprint on what is a time-honored tradition: letting your books speak volumes.
“People want the books to tell a story. Hopefully someone will look and ask about the books, and that leads to introducing who they are,” Gloss explains. “Personally, I will have a book or two about Africa, so I can talk about my daughter who lives in Nairobi. And there’s a J.D. Salinger novel on my shelf so I can tell a story about the time he came into the store many years ago.”
Proprietor of the historic Brattle Book Shop, which traces its origins to 1825 and has been in the Gloss family since 1949, Ken Gloss has made appearances in the US on public television’s Antiques Road Show and is past President of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America’s New England Chapter.
