Books Are My Business: David Gordon, The Curious Fox Bookshop, Berlin
David Gordon of the Curious Fox Bookshop, Berlin
David Gordon opened the Curious Fox bookshop in Berlin in 2013 along with his partner Orla Baumgarten. He is from Ovens, Co Cork, originally.
I was living in Dublin, it was around 2007 I and went with some friends for a weekend to see a gig. I just had the best weekend of my entire life, I immediately felt at home. It took me another year to move there, and I didn’t end up staying, I went back to Cork for a couple of years but I came back in 2011.
I met my partner in life and business, Orla Baumgarten, who is from Dublin, in a bookshop in Berlin called Another Country. It was a home away from home for me, I used to hang out there all the time. When I moved back to Berlin, we thought we would start a business — we had a couple of ideas but really what we wanted was a bookshop, even though we thought it was probably a terrible idea in the 21st century.
We have new and used books, all in the English language. We sell postcards, notebooks, all of that and we also sell artworks by local artists and friends. Before the pandemic, we used to do a lot of events, we haven’t done so many but we are starting to dip our toe back into those now.
We had a tumultuous couple of years. The pandemic was actually OK — the Berlin government had great support for businesses, but in particular, bookshops were allowed to open. The culture minister labelled them as ‘spiritual petrol stations’. There was little else to do and I think people were reading a lot. After the initial shock of the pandemic, the shop did OK. But then we had to leave our previous location. We opened the new place at the end of January last year. We are not back to zero but we have had to rethink a few things. We have always said we are in it for the long haul. It is not a get-rich-quick scheme.
I love coming in and chatting to people, meeting new people every day. The bookshop environment is just so relaxing and obviously, we are our own bosses. When people find a bookshop they like, they seem to be so excited by it. I feel the same, I can’t walk past a bookshop that I haven’t been in before without going in and buying something. It is nice to be in that environment where people are happy to be there.
When somebody wrinkles their nose and says ‘that’s OK, I’ll get it on Amazon’. We keep toying with the idea of setting up an Amazon swear jar, where whenever anyone says the word, they have to put in a euro. It kind of hurts our feelings. We know Amazon exists, but personally, we operate a boycott. You have to remind yourself that not everyone understands how the book trade works and not to take it personally. If you are disappointed with the price, just say, ‘OK, thanks very much, I’ll think about it’.
We have always felt that we are an unofficial citizens information bureau in a way. We have had people wandering in and asking if we could translate their visa application, all sorts of things, asking for directions or advice. Then obviously it’s a space where you know you can come and have a chat. You can relax and be with your thoughts, take time to browse.
If a book is more expensive from an independent bookshop, it is not because they are super-greedy, they have to sell it for that price to make any money from it.
I really enjoyed by Nuala O’Connor. I devoured Claire Keegan’s , I was taken aback by just how good it is. I’ve been really enjoying Colson Whitehead — was probably my favourite book of 2022. You can also count me among the millions of Sally Rooney fans — is my favourite. I’m a culchie who went to college in Dublin so maybe that’s why I identified with it.
