Father's Day Reads From Antique Bookseller

Those of us with a love for independent bookstores tend to peruse the stacks at Books & Books in Aventura or Coral Gables, but drive a few miles north and you’ll find William Chrisant & Sons’ Old Florida Book Shop at 3426 Griffin Rd. in Dania Beach.

There you’ll discover more than 50,000 antiquarian and used books accumulated over the last 40 years at a shop that specializes in rare books, antique maps and vintage fashion magazines. Established in 1978, this Florida location opened in 2009 after being in Akron, Ohio, and Philadelphia.

A recent TikTok about Chrisant and Sons’ garnered 45,000 likes and drew in people from as far away as Tampa, causing lines to form outside the door to get in. After things calmed down a bit, the shop’s namesake owner provided us with his top three book picks for Father’s Day that you’re likely to find on his shelves.

1. "Hamlet"

Chrisant chose William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” “not so much for the star, but for Polonius’ advice to his son, Laertes.”

In Act 1, Scene 3, Polonius gives Laertes tons of advice ranging from how to treat his friends, how much to speak, how to act and how to dress. He even counsels his son to avoid wasting time and money on entertainments, becoming overly familiar with others, judging others (even when they judge him), or lending or borrowing money. It begins with “Give thy thoughts to tongue” and ends with the famous and oft-repeated line, “Above all, to thine own self be true.” Ironically, Polonius doesn’t always follow his own advice.

“Hamlet” is a tragedy set in Denmark written by “the Bard” sometime between 1599 and 1601, in which Prince Hamlet seeks revenge against his uncle, Claudius, who has murdered Hamlet’s father to seize his throne and marry Hamlet’s mother. It is considered among the most powerful and influential works of world literature

2  “Fathers and Sons”

Published in 1861, “Fathers and Sons” was written by Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev, the first Russian writer to become widely known in Europe and accepted in Parisian literary circles.

In this masterpiece set in Russia, Arkady Petrovich returns home from university a different man. His father finds his eager, naïve son almost unrecognizable after having fallen under the influence of a friend who shocks the elder Petrovich with criticisms of the land-owning way of life – and a determination to overthrow the traditional values of contemporary society.

“It’s interesting in that the father is aghast at the school-inspired nihilism (this is mid 19th century Russia) which in some respects reflects our present older generation’s parents’ angst about their childrens’ philosophy,” said Chrisant.

3. "Lord Chesterfield's Letters"

Not originally intended for publication, “Lord Chesterfield’s Letters” is a collection of 400 letters between Philip Stanhope, the 4th Earl of Chesterfield, and his son, Philip, beginning in 1737 and ending in 1768. The letters were first published in 1774.

The celebrated and controversial correspondences were praised in their day as a witty and complete manual of education spanning everything from history and literature to meditations on philosophy, life and love. However, they were loathed by 18th century English poet and playwright Samuel Johnson for teaching “the morals of a whore and the manners of a dancing-master.”

My favorite Father’s Day read is “Wisdom of our Fathers: Lessons and Letters from Daughters and Sons,” but you won’t find that at the Old Florida Book Shop.