Drif's Guides

[dem bones]

Drif's Guide II: How To Find A Book (Drif Field Guides, 1992)

"In wine bars they have a happy hour - the secondhand bookshop equivalent is different, its called the surly hour and it lasts all day" - Drif Field

A survivalist guide for those of us who spend much of our time creepy crawling strange second-hand bookshops despite the terrible risks we incur in doing so. The enigmatic Drif Field, a professional Bookfinder General, made it his business to document every used book store in the British Isles and issued six versions of his guide from 1986-1995 before seemingly vanishing off the face of the earth, along with many of the establishments he'd so passionately written about (although there was a reported sighting as recently as September 2006).

Drif knew the game inside out and was keen to fill you in on the activities of Bookfairies, the WYLAH, POCS and Alzheimer & Anoraksia Nervosa Specials. He detested every Charity franchise, (correctly) blaming them for murdering the Junk Shop, not allowing tramps on their premises or letting them have some money - bet he'd be delighted to learn I picked up How To Find A Book for 85p in the Watney Market branch of Spitalfields Crypt Trust. Being essentially a gnarled, vehemently politically incorrect and sarky beast, his praise was hard-earned. The more fulsome the praise in the respectable trades, the more likely he was to shoot you down in flames. Every article I've read about him drags in a different enemy he'd made in the course of his work, although he was admired by many and fellow dealer Iain Sinclair liked him enough to cast him as 'Dryfield', one of the Antiquarian book-trading anti-heroes of his Jack the Ripper novel White Chappel: Scarlet Tracings (Paladin, 1988)

Obviously, the second hand book world has changed for the worst since the Drif's Guides, and it's depressing to spot a once-loved (or loathed) shop listed in the directory which has since made way for a KFC or Mobile Phone outlet, but the books still make for essential reading.

"The only person capable of capturing an accurate portrait of Farringdon Road on a Saturday morning is Heironymous Bosch. Ever since I can remember the road in front of that building has been badly scarred by groups of people who could make it look perfectly formed and truly beautiful.

Men in heavy duty anoraks that would be useful if you were crossing Antartica - but their trainers belie the possibility - stand around practising shoulder lifts, with their hands in their pockets. Adolescents dressed in clothes even Oxfam would be uncharitable about try to look what they feel is normal. Fully paid up members of the indoor revolutionary party kitted out by Army surplus stores of the people's republic of dementia try to look sane. Boiler suited behemoths wonder if they should hold the annual ceremony of scraping the Anorak (this tends to be the female element who are on the whole a lot cleaner than the male). Those that do wear suits look as if they bought them from the KGB surplus stores. Come rain or shine they are there every Saturday morning. Only the weather changes not the faces or the apparel." - Drif Field

[jamesdoig]

Crikey, the Vault is going to strange new places!

Don't know why I've still got these - they're hopelessly out of date.



Roy Harley Lewis, The Book Browser's Guide, 1975.

Flap blurb says, "As mounting economic pressure reduce the numbers of these shops, we should treasure those that remain for the pleasures they offer." I suppose 95% of the bookshops listed are dead and buried.

This directory started in 1951, and this is the 1984 edition - dunno if it's still published.

[marksamuels]

I bought that Drif Field guide II new, when it first came out. The man's a legend. Saw him once bartering in Any Amount of Books in the Charing Cross Road, way back when.

His accounts of his exploits and his descriptions of bookshops are priceless. Alas, a huge number of the bookshops are gone and now only live on in his guides.

Here's a couple more I have:







Mark S.

[dem bones]

Aug 13, 2009 23:43:39 GMT jamesdoig said:

Crikey, the Vault is going to strange new places!

In my case it's simply running out of ideas/ material, but having just whipped through Steve's brilliant five-pronged attack, it's clear there's still tons to get excited about.

The irony of these hopelessly outdated book guides is that - in Drif's case at least - the books have become collectible themselves. Without prejudging stuff I've not read, I'm guessing neither The Book Browser's Guide or Directory Of Dealers include vitriolic attacks on the evils of The Spastic Society or incendiary suggestions as to what titles Gay bookshops might wish to include in their window display?

[helrunar]

Fascinating. Drif's prose vividly portrays a world that, despite my lifelong obsession with UK books, films and telly, is pretty much alien to me.

Maybe I'm missing the point, but are the paragraphs quoted intended as a diatribe against masses of people who regularly shuffle through bookshops but never actually buy anything?

His critique of clothing, among other things, would have made him immensely popular on the "blogosphere"--which I presume he would have detested.

cheers, H.

[dem bones]

Aug 24, 2019 18:35:47 GMT helrunar said:

His critique of clothing, among other things, would have made him immensely popular on the "blogosphere"--which I presume he would have detested.

Most likely, but I'd imagine he would detest it with style.

My guess is the paragraphs quoted are intended as a diatribe against everyone who frequents bookstalls & Co. Whether they buy anything or not is immaterial. There is only one person on earth at a given time who know what a "good book" is, and during the '80's and '90's, Drif realised it was him.

Another anti-hero of Iain Sinclair's White Chappel is 'Nicholas Lane,' aka the late Martin Stone (1946-2016), bookrunner and noted blues guitarist.

Michel Parry and Pulphack on Martin Stone (and others).