By Curt Bench IN NEARLY FORTY years as an LDS bookseller, I have met or done business with people along the entire Mormon spectrum, from general authorities to fundamentalist Mormons, and with pretty much every type of Mormon or anti-Mormon in between. In the early 1980s, I once counted Mark W. Hofmann as not only …
Tag: books
Books of Remembrance
By Jamie Littlefield EVERY MONTH OR so, I haunt the shelves of the Provo Deseret Industries store. In the furthest corner of the room under the florescent lights I find rows of Mormon books—many old, many fading, many out-of-date. Given away by families and ward libraries and grandparents’ estates. I could flip through these books …
Of Good Report: Random Acts of Reading
By Dallas Robbins “That book changed my life!”: a cliché right up there with “the more I learn, the less I know.” No self-respecting person should ever utter it in public. But clichés stick around for a reason, and as I revisit them from time to time, I always find something beneath the surface worth …
Adventures of a Mormon Bookseller: Title Fights!
By Curt Bench During my nearly four decades in the LDS book business, I’ve seen a lot of interesting (and not-so-interesting) books. Sometimes the title of the book can be just as fascinating as the content (sometimes even more so). Most book titles are made short, simple, and utilitarian in order to fit on the …
“Thy Virgin Paths”
By Curt Bench Mormon bookselling provides many fun moments that provide my staff and me with life-long smiles. Whereas my June 2012 column might very well have been titled “People in LDS Bookstores Say the Darndest Things,” this one could easily be called, “Mormons Ask for the Darndest Titles.” Over the years, often by phone …
Book Exchanges
By Curt Bench During my nearly four decades in the book business, I’ve come across a lot of things that have made me smile—or at least scratch my head at the sometimes not-so-eloquent ways we booksellers and buyers communicate. Here are a few favorites, each of them absolutely true. You can’t make up stuff …
Putting His Money Where His Mouth Is
By Curt Bench Along with countless others in the Church, I owe Parley P. Pratt a debt of gratitude for several reasons. One is that he helped me on my mission—not personally, of course; despite what my kids think, I’m not that old! Instead, with his 1837 book, A Voice of Warning and Instruction to …
Making a Mark on History
In this new Cornucopia column, Curt Bench, owner and operator of Benchmark Books (www.benchmarkbooks.com), a specialty bookstore in Salt Lake City that focuses primarily on used and rare Mormon books, will tell stories—both humorous and appalling—from his 35-plus years in the LDS book business. During my long career dealing in LDS books, manuscripts, collectibles …
Critical Condition
In this Cornucopia column, Curt Bench, owner and operator of Benchmark Books (www.benchmarkbooks.com), a specialty bookstore in Salt Lake City that focuses primarily on used and rare Mormon books, will tell stories—both humorous and appalling—from his 35-plus years in the LDS book business. In the used and rare book business, we see books in about …