Bookseller. Writer. Publisher.

The Unruly Servant is the work of Michael Schiavo, a bookseller, writer, poet, editor, and publisher with more than two decades of experience with books from several sides of the trade.

Michael has worked as a bookseller at Northshire Bookstore, The Bookstore in Lenox, Yale Bookstore, Barnes & Noble, and Borders. Time on bookstore floors taught him that knowing books is only half the job. The rest is knowing readers: listening, making connections, and recognizing the book that might be right for someone at a particular moment.

He is also a writer and poet. His work has appeared in Tin House, The Believer, Guernica, McSweeney’s, and The Yale Review. His books include The Mad Song, which features a foreword by poet and MacArthur Fellow Douglas Crase, along with several chapbooks and unpublished manuscripts, including Green Mountains, Buds, and Roses.

As an editor and independent publisher, Michael has read submissions, assembled literary magazines, organized readings, worked with writers, and made the kinds of editorial decisions that determine what reaches an audience.

The Unruly Servant draws on all three experiences.

The aim is not to carry every book. It is to choose well: classics and new work, serious books and pleasurable ones, familiar writers and discoveries, books that last and books that feel especially alive right now.

The old Italian word virgilone describes a trusted guide through books, music, film, and the other arts. It comes close to what The Unruly Servant is meant to be: an experienced reader and bookseller pointing people toward work worth their time.

Sometimes you don’t need another list of books.

You need a bookseller.