Ever since 1976, it has been owned and operated by Matt Tannenbaum, a tall, solicitous, eccentric, engagingly garrulous lover of stories and words and literature who ritually answers the phone with a jaunty nerdish “Hello, bookstore!” Tannenbaum’s fondness for his store and its wares is a beautiful thing to behold, even at its most vulnerable.

This intimate portrait of The Bookstore and the family at its heart offers a journey through good times, hard times, and the stories hidden on the shelves. Lovers of books, and especially bookstores, will be swept away by this real-life survival story.