John Cleese, star and creator of numerous comedy shows and films proved to be the main influence behind a bookseller deciding to write a book called ‘Weird Things Customers Say In Bookshops’. Jen Campbell, aged 24 works at Ripping Yarns in Highgate as a bookseller who became fascinated by the strange questions that she is asked on a daily basis.
Campbell began to make a note of the weird and wonderful things that customers would ask her, eventually deciding to write a book after spotting a Tweet by John Cleese. The post on the social networking site said “what is your pet peeve”, to which Campbell replied:
“The weird things people say in bookshops”
The inspiration for this reply came from a customer wanting to know whether Anne Frank, a victim of the Holocaust, had written a sequel to her book. Following this bizarre request, Campbell documented all the weird questions and requests from her customers, eventually being approached by a publisher after some of the sayings were posted on her blog page. Campbell says:
“I love working in bookshops. There’s nothing better than recommending a book to someone and when they come back and say they really enjoyed it. But for some reason, retail generally, and book shops in particular, attract especially strange requests.”
The book may be appreciated by John Cleese, who influenced Campbell with his post on Twitter, especially as he is particularly loved for his off-beat sense of humour displayed in his various comedy shows.