Do you like buying books on the cheap? I do. But I don't really like secondhand book stores. They all smell of decay; the arrangement of their shelves runs from the haphazard to the chaotic; staff never seem attentive, but who can blame them? Of course, I make an exception for the quite wonderful Shakespeare & Co. in Paris. I've spent hours there browsing, eavesdropping and attending readings, and once had the singular experience of the late owner, George Whitman, insulting me because I suppose he felt like it.
But back to Hogtown. Lately I've been a regular visitor to Book Ends, a sort of used book store the Toronto Public Library runs tucked away in a smallish room at the Reference Library. The books themselves are those that have been withdrawn from the library system, and donations from the public. My friend Josh tipped me off about the place, and I'm pleased he did. In the last few weeks I've bought the quite remarkable Soul Murder by the eminent psychoanalyst Leonard Shengold, a pair of John Le Carré novels, and The Hemingway Women, a biography of the writer's mother, his four wives, a mistress, and two other young women he befriended. Each of the books was in good condition - no coffee stains on the cover, no scribble in the margins, no sappy Happy Birthday messages. And best of all they cost just a dollar each. Paperbacks are even cheaper.
Naturally, buyers will have to root around a bit, but the shelves are fairly orderly and dreck such as What to Do When Your Daughter Gets a Tattoo - suggest she join the navy? is easy to ignore. The place doesn't smell either, the volunteer staff are obliging, and opening hours are something sensible like noon to 5:00pm five or six days a week. And on Friday, September 19 and Saturday, September 20 there's a huge clearance sale in the Elizabeth Beeton Auditorium at TRL. Twenty bucks should get you a pile of treasures.
But back to Hogtown. Lately I've been a regular visitor to Book Ends, a sort of used book store the Toronto Public Library runs tucked away in a smallish room at the Reference Library. The books themselves are those that have been withdrawn from the library system, and donations from the public. My friend Josh tipped me off about the place, and I'm pleased he did. In the last few weeks I've bought the quite remarkable Soul Murder by the eminent psychoanalyst Leonard Shengold, a pair of John Le Carré novels, and The Hemingway Women, a biography of the writer's mother, his four wives, a mistress, and two other young women he befriended. Each of the books was in good condition - no coffee stains on the cover, no scribble in the margins, no sappy Happy Birthday messages. And best of all they cost just a dollar each. Paperbacks are even cheaper.
Naturally, buyers will have to root around a bit, but the shelves are fairly orderly and dreck such as What to Do When Your Daughter Gets a Tattoo - suggest she join the navy? is easy to ignore. The place doesn't smell either, the volunteer staff are obliging, and opening hours are something sensible like noon to 5:00pm five or six days a week. And on Friday, September 19 and Saturday, September 20 there's a huge clearance sale in the Elizabeth Beeton Auditorium at TRL. Twenty bucks should get you a pile of treasures.
No comments:
Post a Comment