Travelling bookshops bring a reading drive to Thailand and Vietnam
In short
- Artist and publisher Tran Dai Thang runs a travelling bookstore in Vietnam.
- A visitor who said they did not read bought a book for 10,000 dong (US$0.40).
- The book's original price was 45,000 dong, so the sale was heavily discounted.
Why the Good News Desk likes this one
The reading drive takes books to places where people already gather, such as pop-up cafes. Thang called two young visitors over and kept talking until one agreed to buy a book. For him, the wider point mattered more than the small sale.
From South China Morning Post
Tran Dai Thang spotted two young people who had picked up their drinks at a pop-up cafe beside his travelling bookstore and were about to leave, so he called them over. One of them said they did not read books, Thang recalled. But he kept the conversation going and eventually persuaded the visitor to buy a book for 10,000 dong (US$0.40) – heavily discounted from its original price of 45,000 dong. For Thang, an artist and publisher, the small sale mattered far less than the fact that someone who...
Ask this story
For kids
Tran Dai Thang has a bookshop on wheels. He talks to people who say they do not like reading. Sometimes they buy a book, and that is good news. What is a book you would like to read?
