84, Charing Cross Road

I absolutely love this story. It’s a beautiful glimpse into life. Simplistic but so wonderful. Will stick with me for life. Highly recommend.

Delightful little book. Sat down and read it straight through. Going to order some of her other books. Good night-time reading. The seller---Goodwill in Michigan---was maybe a week early. Used, very good condition.

With fifty years of memory on my brain's hard-drive, I can't actually remember when I first came across this volume. To say this book has left an indelible mark on my heart would be an understatement; it has had a profound effect on my life. This book is `the perfect storm' for me. I have a couple paperbacks, a copy of the play script, an audio book, and the film. I love the era, the book love (not just reading but being around books, the library, haunting old book shops - talking about books and just being with the books) and also letter writing to friends. I have a couple of pen pals - my favourite is my friend Edel in Ireland (oh, how I long to jump on a plane and surprise her). I love most English things and NYC too (the theatre, museums...). Like Helene, my heart skips a beat as I approach my mailbox and see a package waiting for me. For me this book evokes a time and a place - a simpler way of life. She was a near-do-well. Her book "Underfoot in Show Business" details her career. She only "just" made enough to get by. She wrote plays that were never produced. She wrote for "live" television, but when the studios learned how to "film" television everyone moved to Hollywood. Helene wrote educational books - biographies for children. This book, "84, Charing Cross Road," the play and film, her subsequent books and "Letter from New York" (her BBC radio broadcasts), kept her solvent, but never made her rich. I found a hardbound edition at Powell's (in Portland, OR) that I would run into a burning house to save. In "Breakfast at Tiffany's" Holly talks about 'the mean reds' - when she and the world are at odds and everything just seems wrong (which is different from 'the blues') and how she goes to Tiffany's..."84, Charing Cross Road" is where I go. RE: the audio book: I've read the book several times (+ other books by Ms. Hanff): I adore the film - one of my all-time favorites. So, why did I even need to purchase this? Well, I'm always looking for short books like this one to take on trips (and such). This one, is just a little slice of heaven. I've been in love with Juliette Stevenson ever since "Truly, Madly, Deeply," and on through "Being Julia" and "Bend it Like Beckham." Her performance here is all you would expect. I laughed and I cried all over again. I can not recommend this one enough. Buy it - NOW.

Purchased as a gift, but the item arrived quickly and in excellent condition. Would recommend this seller.

This is the story of an American writer (the author of the book) who strikes up a friendship by mail with a bookseller in England. The entire book is a series of unedited and un-commented-on letters exchanged between Hanff and the Marks & Co. booksellers at 84 Charing Cross Road. Her primary pen pal is a man named Frank Doel, with whom she shares a love of old books. [Perhaps this is the point where I should say that I flatly disagree, without reservation, with the previous reviewers who believe there was a potential romantic attachment between the two of them.] The correspondence runs from 1949 until 1969, during which time Helene and the people at 84 Charing Cross Road exchange Christmas gifts and news of their families, but never meet. At least in the early years of the correspondence, almost every year Ms. Hanff states her intention to come over to visit England, but something always comes up to prevent the trip. In 1969, one of Hanff's letters to Frank Doel is answered by another member of the firm, informing her that Frank Doel has died. This is a beautiful book, which can be read in 45 minutes. I suppose every reader will take his or her own lessons from the book, but here is mine: If there is something you really want to do in your life, then DO IT when the opportunity arises. Time is finite. If you keep saying, "Maybe next year," there will eventually come a time when there IS no next year. It is a painful tragedy that Helene Hanff never got to England to meet Frank Doer and the other people at Marks & Company, and that poignant sadness is what stayed with me after I had closed the book.

Excellent book! Very quick read! But really enjoyed the book. It takes place in England at the end of WW2. Read it for book club and we all enjoyed the story. Definitely a good read!

I bought this as a gift for a bookish friend and I know she'll love it as much as I do. It is a perfect rainy afternoon book guaranteed to charm and delight. And, amazingly, the film is just as lovely, no mean trick since the book is composed of letters between an American woman and an English bookseller. Do yourself a couple of favours - read the book, see the film.

Es más maravilloso de lo que esperaba.

Una raccolta di lettere tra una scrittrice americana ed un libraio inglese, che mai si conosceranno nella vita al di fuori del loro rapporto epistolare. Gli ordini, le richieste di libri e le comunicazioni di servizio fanno da pretesto a riflessioni sulla vita e sulla letteratura, arguzie, parole d'amicizia e gesti affettuosi. Piccolo ma brillantissimo. Ne è stato tratto un film che, contrariamente a quanto accade sovente, è all'altezza del libro.

Todo bien

Just one word to say. All you booklovers who bought the Penguin edition of this wonderful book have missed out on its sequel, 'The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street'. In the Virago edition of the book, both '84' and 'Duchess' have been put together in a single volume. This Virago edition is also available on Amazon.in -- just type '84 Charing Cross Road Virago' in the Search panel, press Return and you will find the book. Alternatively, paste this on the URL panel in the desktop version of Amazon: http://www.amazon.in/Charing-Cross-Virago-Modern-Classics/dp/1860498507/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1497545302&sr=1-1&keywords=84+charing+cross+road+virago