In Profile: The Monkey’s Paw

When I walked into the store, Fowler was sitting at a desk at the front of the shop. He immediately offered to help me with whatever I needed, but also allowed me to browse the shelves at my own pace. As I looked through the books, categorized by subject, it became quite apparent that The Monkey’s Paw caters to a wide and unusual range of interests. I found such books as Shaolin Long Fist Kung Fu, A Handbook on Hanging, and Uncle Wiggly in the Country.

When I asked Fowler if he could show me a few items that he found extra special, he picked two titles. The first, Typewriting Behaviour, was a clothbound book that he drew from a cabinet. He gushed that the “scientists of keyboards,” who designed an ergonomic keyboard, as well as one for amputees, wrote the book. “Typewriting fascinates me,” he exclaimed. Antique typewriters dot the store.

The second book he showed me was called The Pigeon, or as he called it, “The Bible of pigeons.” He flipped through the book, showing me the illustrations and reading aloud the chapter headings. “I gotta read this,” he said upon coming across a section called “The Relationship of Pigeons and Men.” He told me that he once wrote a short story called “Fauna Urbana,” and used the book to inform his descriptions of sick pigeons, since the story centred on a pigeon plague.

As this brief depiction of him suggests, Fowler knows and loves his books. He handpicks, flips through, and prices every one in the store, and says, “I won’t put anything on the shelves that I wouldn’t want to take home.” A successful trip down to The Monkey’s Paw may end in the purchase of a special book or image, but it is worth it just to talk to Fowler. What book lover wouldn’t want to meet a guy that, upon unwrapping a book from its dust jacket to reveal the pristine red hardcover and gold-lettered title, says in awe, “That’s it man. (Makes explosion noise and smacks cover). The Pigeon”?

This week, Fowler will launch “The Parallel Library,” an exhibit of “diverse and noteworthy artifacts from the Age of Print.” It will include approximately 50 unique and aesthetically interesting prints and books, including The Pigeon, with write-ups for each one. All items will be available for purchase. “The Parallel Library” will be installed in a storefront at 1080 Queen St. West for two weeks, June 23 to July 3 (open to the public Thursday through Sunday of both weeks), with an opening reception on Thursday, June 23, from 6 to 9pm.