The Booksellers

D.W. Young's 2020 documentary is about the rare book dealers and collectors of New York. Moving through shops and fairs, it asks what the people in this trade are looking for: whether a book's value lies in its content, its printing or whose hands it passed through. Fran Lebowitz, Gay Talese and dealers who have worked in the field for decades speak, and most of them say the trade is narrowing, that the internet has removed the mystery from prices and that the customers are ageing. The film conveys that decline without lapsing into elegy, and makes room for the women who have recently entered the profession. Parker Posey is among the producers and appears as a narrator. Who it's for: viewers who like book culture and documentaries about narrow professions. Who it's not for: anyone looking for conflict and tension; the film is built on conversation.