1973

Though Robertson Davies won a Governor General’s Award for The Manticore, and John Berger earned a Booker for G., 1972, like 1971, was Jonathan Livingston Seagull’s. The book’s two solid years on top of the bestseller lists cocked a snook at all the booksellers like Bill and Binky who lampooned it ceaselessly. Brian Mitchell in the cellar was known for kicking a copy around the store screaming 'fly you fucking book, fly'.

“Sometimes you feel you have to tell a customer that a book is garbage,” Bill often remarked, “but this is not the ideal way to sell books.”