I stopped by the Strand Book Store on 12th.
Because Kate told me that her ex, Jack, goes there almost every day. I was keen on meeting him.
I hadn’t a single clue as to what he looks like but somehow I thought I would know once I’m there.
Strand is a large bookstore, carrying books of old and new, occupying four floors of the building on the corner of 12th. It says they are “home to 18 miles of books.”
When you step into a store, you can check your bags at a counter. In other words, you can browse around with free hands. I’m sure it’s to prevent book theft but it’s pretty great to be able to go around with nothing to weigh you down. I took out my camera, hung it on my shoulders, and made my way into the store.
There were so many customers wherever you went, with people in long lines at the checkout. Without a doubt, this well-established store was loved by New Yorkers.
I went down to the lower floor and found the entire place to be bare, like a warehouse with just a handful of customers. Then I discovered a section at the corner with stacked art books waiting to be sorted. There were some torn covers, piles of design books from the 50s to the 60s, not only from the U.S. but France, Italy, Germany, and others.
I loved the graphic posters and ads of those times, so it truly looked like a mountain of treasure. I looked at the prices and they were all $5 a piece. I want them all, I thought.
I took advantage of the sparse floor and took a couple that I really wanted and started to pile them on the table. There were 22 all together and it would still come out to $110! Not a bad price, but I just didn’t have enough cash that day.
I rushed up to the ground floor to ask it they can be put on hold. And they would, for a week! So I dragged one of the staff and went back down to ask that my selections be carried up. That’s when I found a man in a grey chester coat, with a knitted cap plopped on his curly blond hair, carefully flipping through the pile of books, one by one.
“Excuse me, I’m about to buy this pile.” He stared at me and said, “Very good selection at low prices. Do you run a bookstore?”
“No, I just chose ones that I wanted,” I said. He smiled and said, “They weren’t here yesterday so you are so lucky to have found them right after they were placed here. I want all of this, too. You really have good eyes,” he said. I was over the moon with this comment.
“I like that camera of yours, too. Are you a photographer?” he said pointing to the camera hanging from my shoulder.
“No, I’m actually borrowing this from someone,” I said. “Hmm, it actually looks familiar,” he said.
