Chekhov's Mistress
In Praise of Three Lives & Co.
I almost titled this post “In Defense of…” but I realized that anyone who knows books and knows of Three Lives knows they need no defense (and the nose knows no noes!). A couple of weeks ago Time Out New York took a look at Indy Bookstores. From what I can tell they sent their most obnoxious reporter out to push the limits of a book salesperson’s patience by asking for suggestions on a long list of books as presents for an artificial gaggle of relatives. They loved the Strand and put Three Lives last on their list, quoting someone there not sounding so good in the face of this onslaught of ridiculous questions. This article comes on the heels of that equally silly piece on ranking critics that I had the pleasure of hearing John Simon rip to shreds.
Now I know this is meant to be cheeky cool kid stuff (whatever that means for a mainstream magazine) so it’s not all that upsetting, but Three Lives & Co. is one of the best bookstores in the city and I’m on record here as stating that the Strand is the most overrated. I just happened to be in Three Lives & Co. and listened to a bookseller quite patiently guide a man who only had the vaguest idea of what he liked. He had read and liked The Kite Runner, he liked Michener, Mario Puzo and several other things. She led him around the store, showing possibilities and chatted with him. I would never have been so patient with him. I don’t think any of this was influenced by that article (although the customer today seemed almost implausibly questioning; maybe he was a copy-cat!), but I stop into that store often and usually hear people talk about books in an intelligent way and I know it’s a great place to find things to read.
In fact, I go there because I always know I’m going to find an intelligent array of books hand chosen for the store’s clientele. It’s a small shop; they have no room to waste, even though they cover nearly every inch of space with books. How many places can you go and find books by the likes of Dumitru Tsepeneag, David Markson, Lydia Davis, Stefan Themerson, or Tatyana Tolstaya, but to name a few, right out on the main table?
When independent bookstores are sadly (oh so sadly) disappearing from the landscape, it seems a shame that Time Out would publish such callous drivel instead of doing what they do best, which is letting people know where the good stuff is.
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About this Post
- Posted by: Bud Parr
- Date: May 23, 2007
- Filed Under:
Dependent Children of Independent Bookstores
- Comments:0
- Links to this Post: Technorati
