Customer Quotes

There are two kinds of people who come to the Bunch of Grapes. There are those who wish to buy books - a very well behaved crowd who love the store and the publications it carries. The second group are the authors of books, a grungy ill mannered group who have fits and crying jags when they discover Grapes does not have their books. Ann's job is to placate these people by saying such pablum as "we sold out yesterday" or "it's on order and should be here on Wednesday." Ann has the power to either make a writer's summer or wreck it. that is why everyone from William Styron to David McCullough kiss her every time they see her. I love Ann, especially when she puts my book in the window.

-Art Buchwald

"Teachers, ministers, writers are generally perceived as the source of our intellectual stimulation and spiritual inspiration. To them should be added the dedicated, devoted. inspired bookstore owner. It is emotionally satisfying to browse a well-stocked bookstore presided over by an erudite owner who always seems to have time to share his/her literary wisdom. Among all of Martha's Vineyard's enchanted splendor is just such a store and just such an owner-- the Bunch of Grapes and the delightful Ann Nelson".

-Walter Cronkite

It's a dream of a bookstore.

-Anthony Lewis

You simply don't expect that on a small island you'll find a bookstore as satisfying, as complete, as welcoming and as eager to find what you want as the Bunch of Grapes. I can't imagine a better bookstore.

-Mike Wallace

Bunch of Grapes is a delicious bookstore! We take all our visitors there, to remind them of what a bookstore can be!

-Judy Blume and George Cooper

When I was about to publish a novel, the head of the sales department at Henry Holt asked me if I knew any bookstores that might be especially interested in my book. Yes, I said, but you've probably never heard of it. It's called the Bunch of Grapes and it's on Martha's Vineyard. "Heard of it" he said with a big smile. "It's the best small-town bookstore in the country."

-George Graves

The Bunch of Grapes is truly an island institution, and one that has given great pleasure to thousands, including me.

-Phillip R. Craig

One of my favorite things about the Bunch of Grapes is the FAMILYNESS of it - even the people who work there are like family. Their homemade cheese ball is reason enough to go to a book signing. It's a great store and a wonderful contributor to life on Martha Vineyard.

-Susan Branch

In a time when superstores seem to rule the day, it is especially poignant that an independent bookseller not only survives, but continues to flourish! This, I believe, is a testament to the Bunch of Grapes creativity, spirit and incredible energy.

-Wendel Minor

Ann Nelson's Bunch of Grapes is a neighborhood bookstore similar to what I imagine Silvia Beach's bookstore, on the left bank of Paris, to have been. She has read many of the books on its many shelves and knows the tastes of her customers to advise them on what to buy. I don't have a lot of unread books at home that she has recommended.

-Carly Simon

Whenever I take strangers to the Island past the Bunch of Grapes I say, "This is the best bookstore in the world." That's a ridiculous exaggeration. It is however the best bookstore in the United States, and that is no exaggeration at all ... Ann Nelson has made it so.

-William Styron

It's hard to imagine this island without the Bunch of Grapes, in the summer a mighty convenience and in the winter an absolute necessity.

-Ward Just

"The Bunch of Grapes, a bookstore for all season, has become a legend in its own time.

-Ray Ellis

A visit to the Bunch of Grapes is reason enough to take a summer vacation. Ann Nelson's love of literature is evident in every inch of the store, and those of us who care deeply about books should all applaud her dedication.

-Alice Hoffman

Ann Nelson and The Bunch of Grapes bookstore are a blessing indeed to the reader on vacation. No blank stares when you ask an opinion on a book; the staff has intelligent ideas and shares them without hesitation. The inventory is broad and deep, Ann's appreciation of writing and writers, a joy to encounter. Happy twentieth birthday. Bunch of Grapes! A million, zillion returns of the day!

-Brent Staples