#20 in Biography & memoir
84, Charing Cross Road
- 120
- Pages
- about 2 h
- Reading time
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Our view
“84, Charing Cross Road” collects twenty years of real letters between a New York writer and a London bookshop, and reads in a single evening. Its charm lies in the correspondence itself, funny, light and moving; there is no need to care about the antiquarian books being ordered. Some find Hanff’s cheek grating at moments. At 120 pages, it is a gift to anyone fond of books about the love of reading.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
84, Charing Cross Road is a 1970 non-fiction book by Helene Hanff. It is an epistolary memoir composed of letters from the twenty-year correspondence between the author and Frank Doel, chief buyer for Marks & Co antiquarian booksellers, and others, located at the eponymous address in London. It was later adapted into a 1975 television play, a 1976 radio drama, a 1981 stage play, and a 1987 film.
Where the score comes from
The sources average 8.6 across 234 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 61% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Biography & memoir average of 8.1. That is how 8.4 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 8.3 | 16 | 7% |
| Hardcover | 8.6 | 218 | 93% |
Frequently asked
How long is 84, Charing Cross Road?
It has 120 pages — shorter than 100% of the ranked books in Biography & memoir.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Biography & memoir — with scores between 8.2 and 8.4, closest to this book.
