Hop & Book , a new bookshop for our ” Booksellers next door ” column, we return to Rome at the suggestion of Carmelo Calì who advised us to go and visit Claudio Madau .

Bookstore Name : Hop & Book Bookstore – Beer shop – Vinyl records
Opening year : 2014
Mq .: in 60 square meters Books, Beers and Vinyl Records
Employees : 0 We are four partners
Genre : Varies
Region : Lazio
City : Rome
Address : Via dell’Amba Aradam 29 / a

Foto di Lisa Pepe | tutti i diritti sono riservati

Photo by Lisa Pepe | all rights reserved

What did you do in your “previous life”?
I was a waiter and a webmaster.

When did you decide to join the crazy world of books?
By chance… I had been living in Rome for 2 years and had lost my previous job. It so happened that my brother lived in Rome and worked in a bookshop of the Arion Group. It was he who put me in this world. Ironically, we “swapped jobs”. He now works in a bank (his dream was to work in a bookshop), I am a bookseller and I would have liked to work in a bank.

What’s the question customers should never ask you?
“Ah but aren’t you a cultural association?”

And what is the thing that pleases you most they tell you?
A 23-year-old boy, an unusual reader, one day confessed to me that the previous evening he had even given up going out with friends to finish the book I had recommended.

The strangest request that was made of you?
“But of all the things you do, do you also fix the cameras?”

The first book you read?
The young Holden

I know it’s difficult, but if I asked you for a podium, what would be the 3 books you would tell me?
Ten December, G.Saunders, minimum fax
The Young Holden, JD Salinger, Einaudi
Bar Sport 2000, S.Benni, Feltrinelli (a book has never made me laugh so much)

If you could submit a request to those in charge of supporting and helping libraries, what would you ask?
There are so many things I’d like to ask, but if I had to choose one, it would be the legal elimination of the discount on books. No publisher campaigns, no bookshop promotions. We remind you that the book has the imposed price and the profit margin is minimal. I am convinced that with the elimination of the discount even publishers would print fewer titles and quality books would emerge more easily.

What book are you reading at the moment?
Father of God of Driessen, Del Vecchio Editore

Which book would you recommend instead?
There are many, but Saunders’ “Ten December” totally captivated me.

Digital book, true enemy of paper?
Absolutely not! I think the e-book makes a great travel companion. Who reads in ebooks, also reads in paper

Foto di Lisa Pepe | tutti i diritti sono riservati

Photo by Lisa Pepe | all rights reserved

Is there a bookseller next door that you recommend I contact?
Silvia Dionisi of the L’AltraCittà bookshop in Rome.

How can we keep in touch with your library? Leave us all your contact details. Facebook, twitter, instagram, blog….
Facebook page : Hop & Book Bookshop – Beer shop – Vinyl records
Facebook profile : Hop Book
Twitter profile : @claudiomadau
Instagram profile : hopbook_beershop