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You’ll love these.
I failed to mention this great New York Magazine compilation which serenades six authors, William Gibson, Peter Carey, Kathryn Harrison, Simon Rich, Rebecca Skloot and the owner of the Mysterious Bookshop. I’m already hot to trot on some of the Gibson titles.
If you want off summer blockbuster reads; check it out.
that’s god damn independents, you know, the good guys. You know, those NON-CORPORATE GIANTS WHO ACTUALLY KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT BOOKS. Yes, support the good guys..even if it’s THIS WEEK ONLY! Please don’t even consider Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Borders. Yes, The Strand is permissable . Keep the indie spirit alive…check your local listings…here (at IBNYC). Buy a tote or the Bruce McCall designed poster if you don’t actually purchase a book. Feels good to do something good for the day or the week, eh?
taschen soho shoppe
excellent friend (and old new yorker) John (oh, did I mention he lived in London too; just in case I forgot) just returned from the Taschen Store in SoHo with a gift for yours truly. A perfectly smart albeit useful Keel’s Simple Diary. I want to thank him publically but also shout out this fantastic prize and great gift. Granted, I would have chose the Orange (per my Hermes love), yet, Johnnie knows… I need to accept Red (as a colour).
Sorry, I’ve been lame about not talking Brooklyn shoppe NOT for lack of respect but lack of experience. Still, I recall the cool little indie, Clovis Press Bookstore on Bedford (in Williamsburg) which was formerly the Downer’s Pharmacy (killer, I mean genius name). The great thing about that front is that Clovis really kept the feel of the place. A disorderly treasure chest. Now, it too, is gone RIP 2006.
old downer signage via flickr.
Hear ye! Hear ye! Hot off the press. “More Jane Jacobs, Less Marc Jacobs”
My second post on I♥dNewYork was over my fury (and sadness) about the Biography Bookstop closing after a long run to of all people…Marc Jacobs (again, I’m a chick who digs on Marc but please don’t take the Biography!) Tree Hugger composes an interesting article about graphic designer Mike Joyce’s “More Jane Jacobs, Less Marc Jacobs.”
One cannot help but look at Jacob’s 1961 book, the Life and Death of Great American Cities. The New York Times critic Lloyd Rodwin writes…
Mrs. Jacobs’ view is that people like to live, not just be, in such lively neighborhoods. Youngsters and elders alike need such surroundings. But she scoffs at our understanding of these requirements; for we continue to put up civic centers, low density residential areas and housing “projects” segregated by income…Worse still, the new buildings with high rents squeeze out the marginal activities, the small business man just getting a start, the colorful shop with strange and exotic waves, the little restaurants and bars, almost everything deviant, bohemian, intellectual or bizarre– in other words, all that the author believes lends spice, charm and vigor to an area. (read the full review here)
Also, Project for Public Spaces puts together a terrific piece together on her historical & biographical perspectives.
Related piece: Hit Me Over the Head, Marc Jacobs.
MJJ/LMJ : Graphic designer Mike Joyce
from 8 to 18 miles of books. no Kindles, please.
It’s true…everyone has their favorite bookstore, a place to hang on that rainy day or killin’ time… Every New York trip (as a resident or visitor) takes me to magical The Strand…every trip. For hours. The smell.
I first hit the “local” New York section (a thin little section), stroll over to fiction and off to the food section where special discoveries await.
Once, I’ve smelled the pages and thumbed through the text, I head upstairs to the art section, usually looking for a Peter Beard; this time I might strike luck with his new Taschen Deluxe Diaries…Yow. And a whopping $25 off the cover price. Do I really need it? I have soooo many books. Yes, that is great. You get lost in the world of old and new books. A place where the floorboards creek and the rows of books live on.
A place where old and new, New Yorkers meet.
