March 21, 2011
Strand Bookstore @9:17 pm
Union Square/East Village
I had such a good time last week at Bleecker Bob’s, I thought that every Sunday I would venture out and go visit a local and independent store. I know from growing up in Peoria, Illinois that sometimes you just can’t escape the chain stores, some towns don’t have as many choices as others. But in New York there’s really no excuse not to shop local, at least most of the time. So that’s what I’m going to do every Sunday evening for the MAD blog.
Tonight I’m going to a legendary bookstore in Manhattan. The Strand bookstore has stood tall in the face of competition from chains like Barnes and Noble and Borders and from online stores and devices like Amazon and the Kindle and the iPad, oh my! Strand opened in 1927 and still does a brisk business seven days a week. The store and its 18 miles of books has been featured in movies such as, Julie and Julia and Six Degrees of Separation. And they’re open every night until 10:30 pm. Perfect for a nighttime visit from MAD. Shall we?
We'll go right down 14th, hang a right on Broadway and...
Boom! Here we are at the Strand Bookstore.
They have rows of outside shelving units offering hundreds, if not thousands of books for a buck. In the summertime if I'm going to Coney Island or taking a long subway trip I always stop here and pick up a buck book for the ride there and back.
Jinny and O were checking out some of the books outside.
It's still chilly out here, so let's go inside and take a look around at this giant-sized bookstore.
I wish I had a fisheye lens to capture the whole first floor, but this will give a pretty good idea of the number of books in this place. The Burgess Meredith character from that Twilight Zone episode would've creamed his jeans in this joint!
Here's a couple of tables of books specifically about New York.
This isn't a book about the sandwich chain.
Strand buys used books and here's some stacks the store purchased that you can buy tomorrow.
You find some unusual neighbors in bookstores. Here's Marilyn Monroe next to Hunter S. Thompson.
Nice to see John Lennon next to David Bowie as they were friends in real life.
Here's a couple of Ian Fleming 007 novels. I like looking at book covers and spines just as much as album covers.
Whoops...I think we'll just skip this section, I've had enough of Oprah for three and a half lifetimes.
A tall stack of books to be re-shelved.
Hey look, it's the Twitter Whale! He can read? Who knew? I have to Tweet this when I get home! It's sure to get retweeted!
Here's Daniel and Van working the back counter of the store.
Let's go up to the second floor and see what's going on.
Hey buddy, what do you think this is, a Barnes and Noble cafe? Get up and buy the book, cheapskate and let's keep this place in business!
Wow, this looks like a cool book and it's one of my favorite movies. Let's look inside of it.
It's got the entire script and tons of photos from the movie. Very nice!
Here's a variety of coffee table books. I don't see Kramer's though.
An aerial view of the lights and books on the first floor.
Let's see what's on the third floor. I'll take a kooky guess and say, "More books."
Art. I wonder if they mean Garfunkel or Fleming? Who knew so many books were written on those two icons of entertainment.
Cool cover for the "Art and Text" book. Simplicity at its finest hour. Hey I went to art college for four months, I know what I'm talking about!
This Popeye cover of a serpent coming out of Wimpy's pants is a little suggestive, buy who am I to judge?
An overhead shot of the front of Strand's.
Strand bookbags...
Strand coffee mugs...
And for those of you that like to indulge in the risky business of drinking and reading: Strand shot glasses.
Speaking of that, I'm ready for a beer or seven, so it's time to say over and...well, you know. See you tomorrow, after dark.
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Strand: A Brief History
(Reprinted from their website.)
The Beginning
In 1927, Ben Bass opened Strand Book Store on Fourth Avenue, home of New York's legendary Book Row. Named after the famous publishing street in London, the Strand was one of 48 bookstores on Book Row, which started in the 1890's and ran from Union Square to Astor Place. Today, the Strand is the sole survivor.
All in the Family
Ben's son Fred started working in his father's store at the age of 13. After a tour of duty in the Armed Forces, Fred returned to the family business and took over its management in 1956. Soon after, he moved the store to its current location on Broadway at 12th Street, where he rented 4,000 square feet of space - a very large space, at that time. The Strand now occupies 55,000 square feet of space.
8 Miles of Books
In the 1970s, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist George F. Will wrote, "the eight miles worth saving in this city are at the corner of Broadway and 12th Street. They are the crammed shelves of the Strand Book Store."
18 Miles of Books...And Then Some
More than thirty years later, the Bass family now owns the building at Broadway and 12th Street. They also operate the Kiosks in Central Park. In the early 1990s, Strand went online and today book lovers from around the world can shop from our entire selection at strandbooks.com.
Today
Strand Book Store remains a fiercely independent family business with Fred and his daughter, Nancy Bass Wyden, at the helm. With over 200 employees, more than 2.5 million used, new and rare books, a renovated main store and a growing author events program, the Strand looks forward to offering great books at great prices to book-lovers worldwide for another 80 years.
The Next Generation
On October 26, 2007, the Strand Book Store welcomed its newest family members, William Peter and Ava Rose Wyden. These are the first children for Strand owner Nancy Bass Wyden and her husband, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR).
Strand
828 Broadway. (@12th St.)
(212) 473-1452
Further reading and video: Examiner, Wikipedia, Daily Beast and Strand on YouTube.
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Some Things I Did Before Work Today
Wondered where the weekend went.
Listened to Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.
Went to Netflix.
Added Fear Strikes Out to my queue.
Hope it shows up by Friday.
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28 Comments
Reader Comments (28)
Great tour, bookshops rule! And loved the Green Onions video! Always enjoy your musical selections!
Great post Marty, and great music selection! Pisces Aquarius is in my top ten albums of all time. When I come to New York we have to hit this place.
I get these weird omens all the time. A few weeks ago I was in a bookstore and was glancing at a coffee table book about NY called "Lost Waterfront" about the history of the Hudson river and working along the piers and waterfront of New York. Now I see you took a picture of this book. Im going back to buy it now. Here's a link http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Waterfront-Decline-Rebirth-Manhattans/dp/0823228452 , as far as people hanging out at bookstores, I do that, because they have these huge comfy chairs and a coffee shop so its like they want you to stay. I see a lot of students doing homework at these big bookstores and spending all day there then going home without a purchase, I do not blame them, they created this environment, sit, chill, have a drink, etc.
@Barfly: Thanks, glad you're liking the music!
@groovyrick: The best Monkees album ever! We will indeed hit the Strand, it's just blocks from where I live.
@Al: How funny you were looking at that book too!
Barnes&Nobles played a large part in killing Book Row. Ironically, the Strand stands a better chance of weathering the E-Book storm than Barnes&Nobles. Take that fuckers.
reading this i had to think of "do the strand" roxy music
how my brain works..
did you buy the "some Like It Hot book?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2yGudJ_BQ0
Hay what happen to B&W Photo's ? Is this the part like in wizard of OZ where it's going to be in color for the rest of the blog ?
TO Marty , Thanks Again !!
@csp: I'd love to see Strand outlive B&N!
@Gidgie: I couldn't afford the book, but will buy it when I can. I'll check out the YouTube link when I get home.
@Jason: I decided to keep the B&W shots at the beginning. All the posts were kind of looking the same, so I decided to go back to color. You live and you learn!
Before they tore the whole block down and put in condominiums, There was a bookstore on Hennepin Avenue in Minneapolis called Shinders back in the seventies that was like a second home to me. It was right on the bus transfere spot between work and home for me and I spent many happy hours in the place. Great memories!
P.S. - I've GOT that thunderball paperback sitting on my bookshelf...I'm looking at it right now!
I wish we had a bookstore like The Strand here in NJ. Im forced to go to Barnes and Nobel. It's nothing but chain stores up in here. Annoying!
@Jaws: I love the fact you've got that book!
@Meleah: The thing I hate about chain book stores is the selection is all the same.
If I'd have known about this place, I would have taken Shannon there....but the problem is, with travel, you need to somehow fit everything into a suitcase. Amazing book store.
Duck Dunn and Steve Cropper = 2 Kings.
man...books...bookstores...hardbacks...paperbacks...softbacks...razorbacks—oh oh—off topic in five words or less...MAD thanks for the visit to the "strand"...always great places (bookstores) to visit...even if some of us are limited to a chain...damn have a tendency to reread some rather than opening one unread....now i'm way off topic...trying to get back on track—lookin' forward to other bookstore and record store stops after dark...
Don't patronize the chain bookstores. Every time I see some author scheduled to read and sign his books at a chain bookstore, I feel like telling him he's stabbing the independent bookstores in the back.
Lawrence Ferlinghetti
rr
p. s. great nightcap...thought MAD would "'cap" w/ that willie dixon tune covered by so many..ahh.just a passin' thought
Oh. My. Goodness. This is like my dream come true. I absolutely LOVE bookstores. love them. LOVE THEM. Although, sometimes when I get to the really messy part, I get overwhelmed. I like neat bookstores.
If you're ever in Denver, you have to go to The Tattered Cover. Huge old indy bookstore. Love it!
>SuzRocks...got in-laws (outlaws) in boulder will quiz them on that...
rr
Twitter Whale? Some bookish little white guy, above all the fiction, spouting on and what not. That's Moby, dick.
http://www.mtv.com/content/ontv/vma/archive/images/2002/flipbook/2002_triumph_moby1.jpg
@Clacky of Bunt's Downunder: We'll go there next time, it's a five minute walk from my place. Booker T. and the MG's were a great group.
@rr: That Willie Dixon tune will be done the next bookstore I go to and there will be more. I re-read books all the time too. Probably my favorite to re-read is Hell's Angels by Hunter Thompson.
@SuzRocks: I'll keep the Tattered Cover on file, thanks!
@csp: Linkage difficulties again!
Speaking of Paulie, he makes us go to the Strand every time we're in the city - and, frankly, I don't mind one bit! Great store, friendly people. LONG LIVE STRAND!
I love that store! And I love the worn floors! I miss the heavy wood days of 365. Don't knock reading in the bookstore. I learned a lot about sex techniques from reading books in the store I was too embarrassed to buy. I want their owl book bag!
hell...i flip through "firetruck" at least once a month.....just read about the righteous mom that didn't want her precious child expose to a book titled "moby dick"...ah shit where is holden caufiied when she needs him...
rr
I read some of 99 beers this morning while waiting to write my blog..i was stalling.
just some cause i really needed to get busy..
I am a bookaholic
buy me a book and win my heart for life.
i still have 20 boxes of books in the basement i have no room for here.
i prefer bookstores over any kind of store.
even just to smell books
but there was a bookstore in seattle that smelled like cat pee.. closed my nose there.
but still bought books
got a autographed elmore leonard there.
@Biff: LONG LIVE STRAND!
@kari: You can probably buy that book bag online, check out their website.
@rr: I bought "Catcher in the Rye" last night! I've never read it and just started it.
@Gidgie: My name is Marty and too am a bookaholic.
I did go to their website and I'm not allowed to go back, because I have no need for 10 book bags, and I'm afraid that is what I would leave with.
Record Stores and now Book Stores!
You are definitely finding your "voice" on this site.
Continued success.
Love reading the stories and limks!
"Boris"
Wow Marty what a great MAD treat!
That is such an amazing bookstore, thank you so very much for letting us tag along.
Simplay amazing.
@"Boris:" Glad you enjoyed the trip to Strand's, the best bookstore in the world!
@Tiki Bar Susie: Always happy to have you tag along! Good to hear from you!
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