My Favorite Bookstore

My favorite bookstore is Three Lives--hardly an unorthodox choice. Here are some things this store does well:

*Year after year, it is utterly the same. The room doesn't change--just the books. The color scheme, the lettering, the location of the "Staff Picks": The word "iconic" gets overused, but this is an "iconic visual," in the West Village.

*The staff members are fabulously attractive, and they seem to like one another. The other day, the cashier confessed that a stranger had confused him with Penn Badgley, in "You." And this wasn't even a humblebrag. It's entirely plausible that this cashier would, in fact, share his identity with Penn Badgley. (Only in New York....)

*You hear stories. Amor Towles signs his books very fast, and he meets deadlines. Sondheim had little patience for Barbra Streisand, and he was pleased that she didn't get to direct a film version of "Gypsy." Certain critics enjoy (and talk freely about) their antidepressants--while purchasing tall stacks of Louise Gluck anthologies.

No candies, no moleskine notebooks, no laminated bookmarks, no "new discount" writing utensils. Just books, and eccentric people. This is my happy place.

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