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WORK TITLE: The Bookshop of Yesterdays
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: https://www.amymeyerson.com
CITY: Los Angeles
STATE: CA
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Female.
EDUCATION:Wesleyan University, B.A., 2004; University of Southern California, Master of Professional Writing.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer, novelist, and educator. University of Southern California, assistant lecturer, 2009-12, assistant professor of writing, 2013—.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Writer, novelist, and educator Amy Meyerson is an assistant professor of writing at the University of Southern California. She holds a B.A. from Wesleyan University and a Master of Professional Writing degree from the University of Southern California.
Miranda Brooks, the protagonist of Meyerson’s debut novel The Bookshop of Yesterdays, is a high school history teacher in Philadelphia. After some years of turmoil, she feels she has finally found a place where she can settle down and live her life. She takes the even bigger step of moving in with her boyfriend, Jay, a fellow teacher. Miranda’s domestic contentment is short-lived, however. She receives an unexpected package after the sudden death of her uncle Billy, a man she once adored but whom she hadn’t spoken to since Billy and her mother had a major conflict with each other shortly after her twelfth birthday. She doesn’t know what their falling-out was about, but she knew she missed her Uncle Billy, a funny, personable sort who had been a source of many trips and adventures. She particularly remembers spending considerable time in Billy’s bookstore, Prospero Books, taking part in scavenger hunts and steeping herself in the atmosphere of books, booklovers, and the Los Angeles neighborhood where the store was situated.
To her surprise, Miranda discovers that Uncle Billy has left her the bookstore. She has to admit to herself that owning a bookstore has been something she’d thought about, though had dismissed it as impractical. Now, with ownership of a venerable store she was thoroughly familiar with, it seems she can move forward with that idea. She heads to Los Angeles for Billy’s funeral and to look at her new property, with the idea of deciding what she’ll do with the place.
When she gets to Los Angeles, she discovers several things. First, she finds out that Prospero Books is not doing well financially and verging closer to bankruptcy. Second, she finds out that the management and employees of the bookstore are unwelcoming and unwilling to tell her much about Uncle Billy. She realizes that they are afraid that she will sell the bookstore and leave them without jobs. Third and last, she discovers that the mischievous Uncle Billy has left her one last scavenger hunt to complete. It soon becomes apparent that the only way to find out about the bookstore, Uncle Billy, and the mysterious fight from her past will be to complete the scavenger hunt and solve the problem at its core.
It doesn’t take long before Miranda realizes that Uncle Billy was not always the jovial uncle she remembers, but that his life was marred by tragedy. She decides that she must do what she can to save Prospero Books and keep the store open, not only for the employees but for the memory of Uncle Billy. In the process, she begins to reconsider her own goals in life and question whether her decisions in Philadelphia really reflect what she wants. She has a partner and a career in Pennsylvania, but has family and new responsibilities in California. Her decision will also mean whether or not she finally discovers the meaning behind events that haunt her own past in Los Angeles.
A Kirkus Reviews contributor commented: “Meyerson writes beautifully, with lush descriptions of LA and believable interactions between characters.”
“Meyerson’s evocative novel is a fun homage to book lovers and the eclectic spirit of L.A.,” remarked a Publishers Weekly reviewer. The novel is “Recommended for bibliophiles who have ever fantasized about inheriting a bookstore,” commented Booklist contributor Alene Moroni.
The Kirkus Reviews writer concluded that The Bookshop of Yesterdays is a “lovely look at loss, family, and the comfort found in a good bookstore.
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, June 1, 2018, Alene Moroni, review of The Bookshop of Yesterdays, p. 30.
Kirkus Reviews, April 1, 2018, review of The Bookshop of Yesterdays.
Publishers Weekly, March 26, 2018, review of The Bookshop of Yesterdays, p. 89.
ONLINE
Amy Myerson website, http://www.amymeyerson.com (August 9, 2018).
USC Dornsife website, http://dornsife.usc.edu/ (August 9, 2018), biography of Amy Meyerson.
About the Author
Amy Meyerson is a graduate of Wesleyan University and the University of Southern California. She lives in Los Angeles and teaches in the Writing Program at the University of Southern California
Amy Meyerson
Assistant Professor (Teaching) of Writing
Contact Information
E-mail: ameyerso@usc.edu
Phone: (213) 740-1980
Office: JEF 150
Biographical Sketch
Amy Meyerson received a Master of Professional Writing degree from USC and a BA from Wesleyan University. She began teaching in the Writing Program in 2009 as an Assistant Lecturer and has been part of the full-time faculty since 2013. Her first novel, The Bookshop of Yesterdays, will be published by Park Row Books (HarperCollins) in June, 2018.
Education
BA , Wesleyan Univ, 5/2004
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Print Marked Items
Meyerson, Amy: THE BOOKSHOP OF
YESTERDAYS
Kirkus Reviews.
(Apr. 1, 2018):
COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Meyerson, Amy THE BOOKSHOP OF YESTERDAYS Park Row Books (Adult Fiction) $26.99 6, 12
ISBN: 978-0-7783-1984-9
A woman inherits her late uncle's struggling bookstore in Meyerson's debut novel.
Miranda once idolized her uncle Billy--he was charming, adventurous, and always let her pick out any book
she wanted from his store, Prospero Books. He planned elaborate scavenger hunts and was full of surprises.
But on the night of her 12th birthday, Billy and her mother have an explosive fight. Miranda doesn't know
what happened between them, but she loses touch with Billy--until years later, when she's a teacher in
Philadelphia. Billy is dead, but he left her his bookstore--and a mysterious book and letter. Determined to
figure out what's going on, Miranda returns to Los Angeles and embarks on her final scavenger hunt,
following clues that introduce her to books and people from Billy's past. No one will tell her why Billy
disappeared from her life--not her mother, her father, or the employees at Prospero Books--so the scavenger
hunt is her only hope to figure out what happened. Miranda quickly finds out that Billy wasn't just the funloving
uncle she remembers--his life was also full of tragedy. As Miranda learns about his history, she must
also juggle trying to save Prospero Books and deciding what she wants out of her life. Should she return to
teaching and her boyfriend in Philadelphia, or would she rather stay with her family and her bookstore in
LA? Miranda's quest to learn more about her uncle leads to some surprises and plenty of references to
literature, with clues hidden in classics like Jane Eyre, Frankenstein, and Bridge to Terabithia. Meyerson
writes beautifully, with lush descriptions of LA and believable interactions between characters. Prospero
Books is warm, inviting, and populated with lovably quirky employees readers will want to get to know.
A lovely look at loss, family, and the comfort found in a good bookstore.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Meyerson, Amy: THE BOOKSHOP OF YESTERDAYS." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Apr. 2018. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A532700567/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=a0aace92.
Accessed 15 July 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A532700567
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The Bookshop of Yesterdays
Publishers Weekly.
265.13 (Mar. 26, 2018): p89.
COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
The Bookshop of Yesterdays
Amy Meyerson. Park Row, $22.99 (368p) ISBN 978-0-7783-1984-9
In her heartfelt debut, Meyerson brings readers on a scavenger hunt full of literary clues and family secrets.
Miranda Brooks feels her life is finally coming together--she adores teaching high school history in
Philadelphia and has decided to settle there, taking the big step of moving in with her boyfriend, a fellow
teacher. But Miranda's cozy life is thrown into tumult when she receives a mysterious package after the
sudden death of her estranged uncle Billy, who she hasn't spoken to since a falling-out between him and her
mother years before. Once a huge part of her life, Billy used to invite Miranda to his Los Angeles
bookshop, Prospero Books, where they would read and solve riddles he thought up. But, on Miranda's 12th
birthday, her mother and Billy had a mysterious fight, and Miranda hasn't heard from him since. After his
death, Miranda travels to L.A., where she learns that Billy has left her Prospero Books--along with a literary
clue to one final adventure he wanted to share with her. She works with the devoted staff to revive the old
store, all the while following Billy's clues, which lead her to hidden family secrets. Filled with quotes from
and allusions to The Tempest, The Wizard ofOz, and Jane Eyre, Meyerson's evocative novel is a fun
homage to book lovers and the eclectic spirit of L.A. (June)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"The Bookshop of Yesterdays." Publishers Weekly, 26 Mar. 2018, p. 89. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A532997113/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=73a9fbd1.
Accessed 15 July 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A532997113
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The Bookshop of Yesterdays
Alene Moroni
Booklist.
114.19-20 (June 1, 2018): p30.
COPYRIGHT 2018 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Full Text:
The Bookshop of Yesterdays. By Amy Meyerson. June 2018. 368p. Park Row, $26.99 (9780778319849).
Miranda Brooks is a history teacher in Philadelphia who has just moved in with her boyfriend, Jay. Then
she learns her estranged Uncle Billy has died and left her his bookstore, Prospero Books, in Los Angeles.
She hasn't visited the-bookstore--or her uncle--since he fought with her mother shortly after Miranda's
twelfth birthday. Up until that time, Billy had been a fun, if intermittent, presence in her life, planning
outings and adventures. Miranda heads home for Billy's funeral, only to discover he left her one last
scavenger hunt. The manager and employees of Prospero Books are reluctant to welcome her, fearing she'll
close the store. Her parents are oddly reticent on the topic of Uncle Billy. Jay is impatient for her return to
Philadelphia. And Miranda needs more time to find the rest of the clues Billy left behind. Meyerson's debut
is the coming-of-age story of a young woman who thought she knew what she wanted from her life and
must reckon with game-changing discoveries about her past and future. Recommended for bibliophiles who
have ever fantasized about inheriting a bookstore--Alene Moroni
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Moroni, Alene. "The Bookshop of Yesterdays." Booklist, 1 June 2018, p. 30. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A546287451/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=988e8cf2.
Accessed 15 July 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A546287451