Our writers and editors share some of their favorite bookshops in the city, including where they go to find classic fiction, art and design books, vintage editions, comics and zines, and writing in languages other than English. Freebird Books Cobble Hill A sign in the window of this shop, situated on a quiet stretch of the Brooklyn waterfront, indicates that it is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sundays, and on other days “by chance.” Inside, you’ll find silence, a variety of used fiction and nonfiction titles, and some shelves with novelty themes, including “Bad Titles,” “Unfortunate Author Photos,” and “Great Jackets.” (A recent title on the “Bad Titles” shelf: “ Woods We Live With: A Guide to the Identification of Wood in the Home .”) There are a couple of uncomfortable-looking couches sitting in the shop’s front section, next to the children’s books, as well as a whole bookcase dedicated to books about New York City, and two shelves dedicated to New Yorker magazine writers: Joseph Mitchell; Lillian Ross; A. J. Liebling; James Thurber; Ved Mehta; E. J. Kahn, Jr.; George W. S. Trow, etc. —Eric Lach Bookmarc West Village Is it a bookstore or a vibe? Bookmarc, situated in a corner storefront opposite Magnolia Bakery, is both. Opened in 2010, the style-conscious shop is the last vestige of Marc Jacobs’s once-sprawling Bleecker Street retail empire. Its carefully curated selection evokes the retro chic of Andy Warhol and Studio 54. Chunky counterculture art books (Keith Haring, Nan Goldin) abound, alongside paperback collections by fetishized authors (Joan Didion, Truman Capote); hip sixties classics (“ Lunch Poems ,” “ Valley of the Dolls ”); and themed shelves on fashion, food and drink, and the gay underground. (Is that a weathered copy of “ The Butch Manual ,” from 1982? It is.) Customers are greeted by a come-hither portrait of Grace Jones, glaring from the cover of a volume of Warhol Polaroids. The books fight for space with branded Marc Jacobs tchotchkes: pens, tote bags, sparkly key fobs. It’s tempting to scoff […]
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