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A used bookshop, by definition, is conservative. It can mock right wing public figures, boast a unique selection of books on avant-garde art, punk music and recreational drugs, highlight anarchist and revolutionary writers in its Poli-Sci section – a conservative establishment it remains.

It isn’t just the act of preserving old books; it is a set of moral and ideological values that are embedded in these objects’ very being, regardless of their overt content. These values can be either of historical import or simply anachronistic. They can shed interesting light on our present human condition, or be tossed aside as outmoded and irrelevant. Either way, a used bookstore’s very charm is its leaning toward the past.
A warm nostalgic feeling for days gone by will come over you once you enter our store, regardless of what liberal views you may or may not uphold.

We know you well our dear target customer, like we know ourselves. “Hypocrite reader! Our own image! Our fellow.” Your love of reading might have brought you in, but you hang around and cannot leave for a different reason. Your passion is visceral; tactile, olfactory. Sure, you’re jaded by the Internet, the e-book, the decline of the book industry. But the old excitement of the treasure hunt is still burning inside you. No facile online purchase can take the place of a quiet stroll along a book isle, eyes and fingers softly skimming the perfectly flushed titles; The rush of an unexpected encounter with a much coveted object; the amazement at a piece of printed matter you never knew existed. The Amazon age readers, who know the title they want for the best price they can get it may protest that they did not find the book they were looking for. Bibliophiles sense this: more than we are in search of books – it is the books themselves that are meeting us according to their own mysterious will. If you know what we say here is true, then based on our experience it is safe to assume that once you walk through our doors, you will stop, grab your head with both hands and exclaim: OMG – I never thought bookstores like this still existed in New York! To which we respond, tongue in cheek: Thank you kindly, but please curb your religious zeal, ours is a calm and secular space for intellectual exchange… Well, frankly – not quite. Our real agenda is hedonist: we created an artificial paradise, we deal in addictive substances and we know how to get you hooked. Enter at your own peril!

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  • Retail
  • Bookstores