Four Corners Bookselling in 1977

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When we opened our bookstore in Durango in 1977, we weren't familiar with the local Four Corners books yet. Customers kept asking for The Beanfield War or the Monkey Gang.  What? We soon found out that the books were the Milagro Beanfield War by John Nichols and the Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abbey. These two books ended up being perennial bestsellers for us. 

We also found the bestselling regional Four Corners books as various sales reps drifted into our new store. Sundance Publishing in Silverton featured large format hardback books with tons of photos of railroads and mining camps. Top of the list was The Rainbow Route which told the story of the three narrow-gauge railroads out of Silverton to the mining camps. Sundance also featured Colorado On Glass- magnificent old photographs highlighting Colorado's history. And of course, there was William Henry Jackson's Rocky Mountain Railroad Album seen in the photo above.

1977 was also a great year for Fiction. Topping the list was The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Also topping the charts was The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough, and All Things Wise and Wonderful by James Herriot, the third book about his life as a veterinarian in a small British village. Selling fiction hardcover books was often a challenge for us, but these three flew off the shelves. 

Other nonfiction books about the Four Corners also sold well. Railroad books were always of interest to our customers as many of them rode the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. There was particular interest in the Rio Grande Southern Railroad which traversed a circuitous route from Durango to Ridgway. A bestseller was Silver San Juan: The Rio Grande Southern by Mallory Hope Ferrell. Sundance eventually published a twelve-volume set on the Rio Grande Southern. And readers awaited eagerly for any new book about Durango. There was great anticipation for Duane Smith's book Rocky Mountain Boomtown: A History of Durango, which kept readers waiting until its publication in the summer of 1980. It was a joy to be selling books in Durango from 1977 to 1980!