A Messy, Dimly Lit Place
Book blogger Maud Newton recently launched a feature on her site in which readers and writers weigh in on their favorite bookstores. This week it’s been all about D.C.: Yesterday former Post Book World Deputy Editor Chris Lehmann praised one Dupont Circle haunt, Books for America, and today Sean Carman makes a case for Kramerbooks.
Lehmann is more in the right, I think–I’m not so quick to dismiss Kramerbooks as “a yuppie pick-up venue decorated haphazardly with Times bestsellers,” but it is a frustratingly noisy place to casually browse in. And as much as I appreciate Books for America as an excellent place to pick up good fiction cheap, it’s—how to put this?—nowhere near disorganized enough to be one of my favorite used bookstores.
I confess I’m spoiled. My taste in used-book shopping was refined in San Francisco, where for a brief, beautiful moment in the mid-’90s there were five stores within a ten-minute walk from my apartment. (Among them were Aaben Books, Acorn Books, and A Novel Idea—in SF, competition among bookstores to be near the top of the phone listings is apparently fierce.) All of them were untidy to some extent—some parts of one store that shall remain nameless had book stacks that resembled (and smelled like) mulch piles, and I suspect its second floor was intermittently used as a crash pad. But with used books, the element of surprise is crucial, which is why I loved those places, and neither Books for America or Kramerbooks scratch that itch. (Stephen Elliott has blogged for Newton about another SF store, Adobe Books—see?—that to my mind is the all-time champion on that front.)
I haven’t been in D.C. long enough to find the slovenly bookstore of my dreams. Any suggestions?
14 Responses to “A Messy, Dimly Lit Place”
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August 9th, 2007 at 3:33 pm
At the risk of looking like I’m busily talking to myself, I should say I hit “save” on this post without mentioning that Second Story Books is pretty satisfying on the “slovenly” front. Lehmann has a problem with the snarky clerks, but snarky clerks are part of the homey, lived-in feel of a great used bookstore.
August 9th, 2007 at 3:43 pm
for a brief shining moment in the mid-1990s, there were around 7 used bookstores in the dupont/u street area. rents have gone up and the bookstores had to leave. heck, in 1995 there were three bookstores on 17thstreet between P and Corcoran.
August 9th, 2007 at 3:45 pm
Try Capitol Hill Books, across C Street from Eastern Market. It’ll scratch your “messiness” itch, just don’t knock over any stacks. Especially getting around the front door and up the stairs to the second floor.
August 9th, 2007 at 4:08 pm
A Messy, Dimly Lit Place…Marion Barry’s crack den.
August 9th, 2007 at 4:45 pm
Definitely agree with Dan above - Capitol Hill Books next to Eastern Market is DC’s answer to the incredibly overcrowded but in a very pleasant and comfortable way used book store - I love that place.
Cheers all,
Steve Hersey
Founder
Books for America (the previously mentioned “not cluttered enough but has great cheap books” bookstore )
August 9th, 2007 at 5:25 pm
My favorite local bookstore is Bonifant Books in Wheaton — large selection, quirky categories, cheap prices. But I’m always interested in discovering more. In town I would have to go with Books for America but I agree with the original post, it’ll never be the bookstore of your dreams…
August 9th, 2007 at 5:35 pm
Riverby Books!
August 10th, 2007 at 10:35 am
Thanks for the recommendations, folks. (And Steve, I hope you’re not taking my comments as a negative criticism of your store. I’d rather have more bookstores, period, than bookstores that adhere to my fussy and likely financially crippling preferences.)
August 10th, 2007 at 1:35 pm
I’ll second Jake (#2’s) comments.
August 10th, 2007 at 9:59 pm
[...] Lehmann and Sean Carman. Athitakis likes Books for America’s selection and prices, but is looking for a far more messy, dimly-lit place. Bonus points for stacks smelling of mulch. Any [...]
August 11th, 2007 at 12:01 am
If you have access to a car, the Rockville warehouse location of Second Story Books is fairly close to the Platonic ideal.
August 11th, 2007 at 2:33 am
I’ve enjoyed this discussion. I was glad to read Chris’ piece because (I’m embarrassed to admit) I hadn’t heard of Books for America. Planning to check it out this weekend. And Capitol Hill Books is another place I haven’t been yet. I never seem to get over to the Hill.
August 14th, 2007 at 1:03 pm
Mark - no, absolutely didn’t take it as negative criticism at all!!! Quite the opposite. It’s funny - I was in Vancouver, Canada last summer and stopped in some of the used bookstores there. I asked the owner of one of them (whose shop you could barely get in because of vast mountains of boxes of books) what he thought about keeping the place neat vs. cluttered. He said that for two months he was militant about keeping everything neat and clean. He said he noticed regular customers walking by the store, peeping in, and keep on walking. He realized his regulars assumed that since there weren’t piles everywhere then there wasn’t any new inventory!! Needless to say, the next day piles of books reappeared.
It’s all personal choice - we try to appeal to a crossover group - both used bookstore nuts and those who don’t go into used bookstores because they get stressed with all the clutter. It’s a fine line but we try! Cheers.
December 21st, 2007 at 12:40 pm
[...] little while back I registered a ridiculous complaint about the Dupont Circle nonprofit/bookseller Books for America: It simply wasn’t messy enough [...]