Bookends: Two Women, One Enduring Friendship [Hardcover]

Madeleine Stern (Author), Leona Rostenberg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 12, 2001

The rare book dealers who delighted readers with the history of their bookselling days in "Old Books, Rare Friends" now offer the other side of their story -- an intimate look at the joys of a relationship that has lasted more than half a century. When their friendship and business partnership began in the 1940s, Leona Rostenberg and Madeleine Stern were pioneers in a man's world. Now approaching their nineties, the duo, who -- among their many discoveries -- unearthed Louisa May Alcott's pseudonymous blood-and-thunder stories, remains a vibrant institution in the rare book trade, even as the Internet changes their field -- and their community -- forever.

After publishing "Old Books, Rare Friends," Rostenberg and Stern received a flood of fan mail asking about their personal lives, and they have responded with poignant honesty and the warmth for which they are famous, as they reflect on their lives and their remarkable partnership. "Bookends" recounts their fascinating histories: family backgrounds, business adventures, the men they did not marry, and their approach to the bittersweet trials of aging. More than just a dual memoir, "Bookends" is also a chronicle of the cultural changes of twentieth-century American life and a loving farewell to the golden age of book collecting. Filled with wisdom and humor, this volume is a tribute to Rostenberg and Stern's passion for the written word -- and for life itself.

Catching us off guard with their candor, they offer their insights regarding their business, their way of life, and their worldview. Above all, they present the story of a special relationship. At a time when people find it increasingly difficult to connect, here wehave the seamless story of a shared life. It is the unique product of an earlier time, yet it is a timeless reflection on the very nature of friendship. Though their fantastic partnership is un-reproducible, the ideal they have established, for the integration of one life so completely with another, contains lessons for all of us.

Without husband or children they created a loving home when this was uncharted territory for women. They nurtured a business and life partnership that has lasted more than half a century and has only gotten stronger with time. When the passing years began to claim one's hearing and the other's sight, they became each other's eyes and ears. A meditation on aging and togetherness, this book is also the narrative of two pioneering single, Jewish women making their way in tandem through a world largely organized to keep them in their place. It is a gentle, wise story, told in their inimitable style, sparse, unadorned, and honest. Their affirmations supersede their uncertainties. As they write, "Bookends support books and come in pairs...If the word encapsulates our past, it looks also to the future, and to the books -- lived together, written together -- that will follow." They confront the challenges of aging in a no-nonsense tone, and, in facing them, give us an ideal of enduring human friendship that can't help but touch the heart.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Rostenberg and Stern, rare-book dealers, single Jewish women and lifelong friends, continue the story begun in Old Books, Rare Friends with this inspiring, moving chronicle of a friendship and moving personal account of the 20th century. The authors, now nearing their 90s, describe their battles and victories in the changing world. In "The Men We Did Not Marry," the authors list their early boyfriends (lawyers and doctors, an older teacher, a misogynist, a commitment-phobe and so on); Stern ends with, "My six men were six reasons I would never marry.... I was still a single woman in a man's world." Instead, they made a home together in a house "filled with light and love, with warmth and air." The pair witnesses the emergence of a younger clientele less well-versed in classics than the previous generation. They describe their European "book-hunt" in 1947, before postwar rebuilding occurred "we had seen... one of the most cataclysmic of changed worlds" and, at the end of the 20th century, they track industry and broader cultural changes by, for instance, the sale of a rare book for an astonishing $12,000 on eBay (the authors had made what they thought was a fair bid of $960). "Bookends is not only the title of this book. It is our very nature. Bookends support books and come in pairs. And that is the life we have led," proclaim the dauntless friends. As they near the end of their long, distinguished and energetic lives, Stern and Rostenberg know that the world as they've known it is also ending. But throughout their story, they remain convinced that, just as their partnership has endured, so will the printed word.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This book responds to those who, after reading the author's Old Books, Rare Friends by Rostenberg (New Worlds in Old Books) and Stern (Louisa May Alcott, LJ 9/15/98), wanted to know more about the personal lives of this octogenarian pair of rare-book dealers. Partners in the male-dominated antiquarian book business in New York since 1940, these women chronicle their unique, platonic friendship and business relationship. They detail their early lives, educations, and experiences abroad in alternating chapters, filling in the gaps from their previous memoir. Their important discovery of Louisa May Alcott's pseudonymously written thrillers is only mentioned briefly, the earlier volume having dealt with it in detail. Especially poignant is their account of the changing antiquarian book scene and their attempt to keep up with it, Internet and all. While they acknowledge the constraints age has put on their activities, they celebrate the joy they have found in each other. While approaching their nineties, these women have not lost the writing skills that have enabled them to write some 20 works on books and publishing. Their engaging prose keeps our interest as we learn about these two rare friends and their passion for books. Recommended for larger public libraries. Nancy R. Ives, SUNY at Geneseo
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Free Press (July 12, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743202457
• ISBN-13: 978-0743202459
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,789,515 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars "Old Books, Rare Friends" is a better read, April 6, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Bookends: Two Women, One Enduring Friendship (Hardcover)

If you haven't already read "Old Books, Rare Friends" by the same authors, then you may enjoy this title.

However, if you've already read "Old Books, Rare Friends," you'll probably be very disappointed. "Bookends" is a much shorter work, and much of it simply repeats "Old Books, Rare Friends."

"Bookends" leaves out most of the stories concerning the authors' book collecting and instead focuses on their relationships with others (e,g,., men they didn't marry, mothers, dogs).