“New
York – the epicenter of belletristic brilliance and cultured abundance.”
This
is a sentence in a wonderful treat for those who treasure the greatest city in
the world and adore books. It’s called A Book Lover’s Guide to New York,
by Cleo Le-Tan. (Rizzoli).
It‘s
the kind of book, that looks and feels like a gift, from its jacketless
hardcover exterior to its colored paper and artful illustrations mixed in with
inviting text about some of the iconic places to experience books in New York.
What
the book does is it reminds you of – and opens your eyes to – the great places
to enjoy buying or reading books from places like Strand, a century-old store
of used and new books that’s bigger than any bookstore I can think of, to Poets
House and the NYPL main branch.
It
breaks the city and its outer boroughs into neighborhoods and showcases
museums, libraries, bookstores, and other related locations. Interspersed between these descriptive listings
are interviews with some literary heavies such as mystery books editor,
publisher, and bookstore owner Otto Penzler, Strand owner Nancy Bass,
bestselling novelist Richard Price, Founder of MTV Tom Freston, former Vanity
Fair Editor-in-Chief Graydon Carter Rizzoli, President Charles Miers, and
National Book Award for Fiction winner Sigrid Nunez.
Here
are a few excerpts from the book. I
highly recommend you fashion a copy of for yourself -- read it and use it as a map to where you
will go next!
What makes for a good mystery?
“What
makes a good mystery is the same as what makes good literature: poetic writing style, a fascinating character
who comes alive on the page, writing that uses language or dialogue that you’ve
never heard used to same way before, something original, interesting
background, something colorful in the background, something colorful in the
background…all the criteria that you would use for literature, you would use
for crime fiction. Except in additions
to that, you need to have a serious plot. Often literature is superbly written
but not much happens and there is sometimes no real plot. Good mystery fiction is harder to write than
general fiction.”
Book Row
“Circa
1890, the legendary bookseller George D. Smith opened a bookstore on Sixth
Avenue, which marked the beginning what would soon become a world-famous territory
of six blocks that went by the name of Book Row. From that period in time up until about the
1960s, almost every shopfront on Fourth Avenue between Union Square and Astor
Place – where the famed Astor Library once held court – was a secondhand
bookshop.”
The New York Public Library Main Branch
“The
atmosphere as you walk in the main doors up the majestic stairs on Fifth Avenue
– or even if you decide to enter through the discreet side entrance at 42nd
Street – is second to none. Part
intimidating and part expressive, the feeling of these giant palatial museum –
like hallways is glorious, lavish, and monumental. Feel free to step in for a quick wander, a
more in-depth (guided if you wish) tour,
or a visit to its numerous and frequent exhibits. Or if, life me, you are really keen, pick one
of the many stately reading rooms to study and mediate in.”
The East Village
“The
East Village is synonymous with the Beat Generation, and the streets still
reverberate with the names and words of the many authors who stalked them –
Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, John Clellon Holmes, and William S. Burroughs, to
name just a few. Decades later, the East
Village is still very much a cultural cauldron – and its distinct place in New
York’s literary history is forever cemented by acting as a setting for scores
of critically acclaimed books from Patti Smith’s Just Kids to Lynne
Tillman’s Weird Fucks. Though
very different from what it used to be, it is still a neighborhood full of
life, students, bookshops, literary landmarks, and famous authors.”
Bookmarc
“Bookmarc
is absolute perfection in terms of finding a gift for anybody you like or love,
or treating yourself to something exquisite that you never knew you
needed. Bookmarc is also ideal for
discovering hidden treasures – nicer covers than in other shops), or a graphic
design book on all the different typefaces in existence, or a unique signed
edition of a photography book you’d never seen before, or some really rare
imports from Japan or any envogue international destination. The selection at Bookmarc is somewhere
between intellectual, highly fashionable of course), sophisticated, culturally
diverse, and really enjoyable.”
92nd Street Y
“Founded
almost one and a half centuries ago, the 92nd Street Young Men’s and
Young Women’s Hebrew Association was originally opened as a Jewish community
and cultural center. It is mostly known for bringing people together and
hosting an excellent series of author events in the fields of literature, art,
and education. Today, the 92nd Street Y is a multifaceted cultural
institution, which serves people of all races and faiths. AS one of the city’s most prestigious venues,
it offers countless activities in all fields of the arts, and specifically
within literary ones.”
Brooklyn Literary History
“Culturally,
Brooklyn plays an essential role within New York’s literary scene. Kings
County’s literary pedigree is as remarkable and varied as the borough itself,
and ranges from historic libraries to brand new bookstore owned by contemporary
novelists. It in fact could warrant its
very own booklover’s guide! The very landscape of the place is replete with
symbols of its literary past, both as setting for some of the most celebrated
novels of the twentieth century and as home and muse to some of America’s
greatest writers. William Styron wrote Sophie’s
Choice here; Michael Chabon’s Kavalier and Clay had all sorts of
amazing adventures here; Paul Auster’s follies were here; Betty Smith’s tree grew
here, in Williamsburg; and Jonathan Lethem built his Fortress of Solitude in
Boerum hill. The railings along the
waterfront of Brooklyn Bridge Park are even inscribed with lines from longtime
resident Walt Whitman’s poem, “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry.”
“With
such a storied history, it should come as no surprise that Brooklyn is still
home to a lively and engaging literary world, and to some of the city’s finest
bookstores. While Brooklyn itself is
roughly world, and to some of the city’s finest bookstores. While Brooklyn
itself is roughly twice the size of Manhattan, a great many of the borough’s most
historically important literary destinations are concentrated along what you
might call the Brooklyn Riviera, the string of older and more commercial neighborhoods
closest to the East River that divides Long Island from Manhattan. So explore the historic houses of Brooklyn
Heights (where Truman Capote and Norman Mailer wrote their masterpieces); roam
the hipster haunts of Williamsburg and Bushwick, where independent bookstores
perfectly reflect their communities, hear poetry in Prospect Heights or visit
the borough’s largest library at Grand Army Plaza; and shop for novels written
by your neighbors in Park Slope and Carroll Gardens.”
Rizzoli Bookstore
“Despite
how majestic and special Rizzoli might feel, with its high ceilings, its wooden
shelves, its marble floors, its intricate Fornasetti murals, and its
thoughtfully laid-out book displays, there is also a very cozy and intimate
feeling to the store. All the way in the back, there is a wonderful room –
reminiscent of the big ballroom my grandparents never had, where I would have
fantasized of secretly playing hide and seek, or of a games room with a
beautiful billiards table and comfy armchairs to fall asleep in – which
accommodates more ponderous shoppers by day and signings, launches, and other
events by night. Yet again, despite all of its grandness and majesty, that
room, along with the rest of the bookshop, has something intrinsically warm and
comforting about it – perhaps because of the amalgamation of all the inviting
piles and shelves of books on art, architecture, photography, cooking, and
fashion that surround you.”
How do you
envision the future of bookshops?
“For right now it seems pretty healthy – there seems
to be more and more interest in publishing and books. Don’t get me wrong
nobody’s going to get rich running a bookstore, but it’s definitely rewarding. I based my initial interest in bookstores on
a Japanese model after a trip there about fifteen years ago. There were a few bookstores that carried unusual, beautifully crafted books
from small publishers all over the world.
The model for publishing came from the Koln-based bookstore Walther
Koenig that began collaborating in the 1980s with artists like Hans-Peter
Feldmann, Gerhard Richter, Boris Mikhailov, and Wolfgang Tillmans. I think keeping things in-house, produced on a
small-scale to control the quality, is where it’s at, and using the internet for
this kind of product can be really useful-using the bookstore as a showroom.”
PLEASE READ!!
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Do This & Sell More Books. Guaranteed. Any Questions?
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Brian Feinblum’s insightful views, provocative opinions, and interesting ideas expressed in this terrific blog are his alone and not that of his employer or anyone else. You can – and should -- follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels much more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2019. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s Independent. This was named one of the best book marketing blogs by Book Baby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. Also named by WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America.
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