The Book of Joie Or a Thousand Singing Hamsters

by Linda Given

Joie de Vivre opened in Cambridge Massachusetts in 1984. Through its door lay a world of clever, beautiful, original and just plain wacky items - all designed to delight, enchant or give pleasure through the unexpected. The Book of Joie is its history from beginning to end, an inside look at the joys, trials, lessons and surprises of running a small business. Stories of customers, employees, suppliers, gift shows and singing hamsters fill these pages, as well as the changes and challenges all small businesses encountered as the internet and smartphones transformed the retail world. The store, a much loved local institution, reluctantly closed its door for good in 2020, in the midst of the pandemic.