Several bookstores of the LES and East Village are participating in a bookstore crawl, the focus of which is Pride Month.
The crawl starts at noon on Saturday, June 11, and each store is offering giveaways and prizes.Participating stores:• Bluestockings Cooperative Bookstore at 116 Suffolk St.• Book Club Bar at 197 E 3rd St.• Sweet Pickle Books at 47 Orchard St.• Yu & Me Books at 44 Mulberry St.• McNally Jackson at 52 Prince St.• Pillow-Cat Books at 328 E 9th St.
Aeon Bookshop is an independent bookseller in Manhattan specializing in literature, art, philosophy, occult, music. We have both used and new titles.
The alternative art scene found a home in the East Village in the early 1980s. Artist-run collectives and unconventional exhibition spaces started to fill the empty storefronts; before long, however, the slept-on real estate became bank branches and chain coffee shops. But, as of late, the East Village has been reclaiming its reputation as a cultural haven with a series of new independent art bookstores.
In 2010 [Brian Leitgeb] and his wife, James McKee, opened Mast Books in Alphabet City, built around a few large and extraordinary personal book collections he had purchased. And last week, Mast moved to a larger location just down the block, marking its official entrée into the East Village.
I bought an hp lovecraft book and "all the pretty horses." They were around $6 each. Curated I think in this case means "classics" or well known or essential reading. Which is kind of nice as long as they have more of a more recently published selection. I asked them what the store was called and they said "mast."
We nosed about a couple of nights ago as they were moving in the (!) books. Focus is on a "well-curated" collection of art and photography books. From the tone of it I'd guess more the real (or at least intellectualized) version rather than the Taschen version.
I just dropped by and learned a few things: No name, yet (I think we should make a few suggestions), the stock includes some nice books, and the guys in the store seem to know what they are doing.
A few name suggestions:
Books on A
The Last Bookstore
Erinaceous
Booknik
End of the Line
Death Books for Cutie
St Mark's Bookshop is my favorite bookstore. They've been a gathering place for authors and readers on the cutting edge of literature, politics, art, and cultural theory for over 32 years now. And they're facing a daunting retail economy at the moment. I'm challenging my friends to SUPPORT ST MARK'S BOOKSHOP *TODAY* by buying a book (or 2, or 5) Today, if you are so moved.
Stop by the store on 3rd Avenue, call them up at 212-260-7853, or check out St Mark's Web site:
A FEW BOOK SUGGESTIONS:
JUST KIDS, by Patti Smith, a memoir about her young days with Robert Mapplethorpe, *SIGNED*, $27 (they're actually now out of signed copies...)
LET THE GREAT WORLD SPIN, a novel of New York in the 1970s by Colum McCann, $15
"STORE FRONT: The Disappearing Face of New York" A beautiful and heartbreaking book of photography by James T. Murray, Karla L. Murray, $65
A new book of poetry, BORIS BY THE SEA, by Ugly Duckling Presse editor, Matvei Yankelevich, SIGNED, $14
THE OTHER SIDE OF PARADISE, a memoir of a journey from surviving a heartbreaking Jamaican childhood to discovering her voice, by Brooklyn performance artist and Def Jam poet, Staceyann Chin.
THIS IS BERLIN NOT NEW YORK, a DVD about 10 underground New York artists traveling to Berlin to make art and friends. $16
