Jerry Seinfeld once said, “A bookstore is one of the only pieces of physical evidence we have that people are still thinking.” Well, it appears we’re thinking less, because there are fewer and fewer bookstores around. Writer/artist and Reader’s Digest cartoonist Bob Eckstein seeks to rectify that with his wonderful homage to these temples of thought, Footnotes From the World’s Greatest Bookstores (Clarkson Potter). It’s chock-full of sweet, funny, and poignant stories. And a few celebrities make appearances, too.
The Golden Notebook: Woodstock, New York
City Lights: San Francisco
"We once received a letter from a young woman who wanted us to know, and hoped we wouldn't be mortified by the fact, that she had surreptitiously placed her father's ashes in various nooks and crannies throughout our poetry room. She said it was her father's favorite place in the world and she was comforted by knowing he was there." —Stacey Lewis, City Lights
Books and Books: Coral Gables, Florida
"One night when I was just about to close, my bookseller, George Henry Keen, tapped me on the back of my shoulder and said these seven magic words, 'Paul McCartney needs your help in fiction.' I showed him (his pregnant wife, and two bodyguards) around the store, but he was most interested in anything Dickens. He fondly remembered the Penguin editions he read at university and regaled me with stories of a particular literature professor who had a great influence on him."—Mitchell Kaplan, owner