Death of a Bookstore

I wanted to read THE NEWCOMES. Months earlier, I had seen it at a used bookstore. I was sure it would be there. Who would want to read THE NEWCOMES? The only Thackeray anyone reads is VANITY FAIR.

I pedaled my bicycle downtown, along the river, then up the hill. I gave myself credit for puffing up that hill. In early spring, I’m never in prime condition.

When I arrived at the bookstore, it was closed. I peered in the window. The books were gone. All of them. I stood on the sidewalk, holding my bike. Perhaps if I stood there long enough things would make sense. I would find a sign directing me to the new location. A passerby would explain what had happened.

No, nothing. Not so much as a phone number or a forwarding address. I came to terms with the closing. Another bookstore had died.

Is there anything worse than the death of a bookstore? I’ve seen so many come and go.

The owner was a bibliophile. Occasionally he removed books from the shelves and refused to sell them to customers. Once I went in to buy Abdelrahman Munif’s CITIES OF SALT trilogy. I couldn’t find the books.

I asked, “Did you sell CITIES OF SALT?”

“I sold the first volume. I took the other two off the shelf.”

“Will you sell them to me?”

“The first one about the Bedouins is really the most charming. The others aren’t as good,” he hedged.

In short, he wasn’t selling. He was hanging onto them. My guess is that he was reading them. A long article about the trilogy had appeared in THE NATION at the time of Munif’s death.

Over the years I found some fabulous books there: cheap mass-market editions of Dorothy Richardson’s PILGRIMAGE, books on the history of England, and out-of-print mysteries. Most of what interested me had come from estate sales, he told me, though he also bought from people who came in off the street.

He once told me he couldn’t compete with Half Price Books and internet bookstores.

Customers liked his store, though. They drank his free coffee and chatted about local politics. Sometimes they lounged in one of the comfortable chairs. I assume they also bought books.

Because the store was gone, I ended up ordering a paperback copy of THE NEWCOMES from Amazon. Thank God for Amazon. THE NEWCOMES is a fabulous book.