Friday, April 26, 2013

Remembering Bobby 'Books' Brooks



EVG Facebook friend Roy Lee shared this photo from the mid-1990s of Bobby 'Books' Brooks, proprietor of Reborn 14, the ramshackle used bookstore that once lived at 238 E. 14th St. between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

"His store was a mess. I offered more than once to come in and help him straighten it up but he said he knew where everything was," said Roy, who recalled Bobby as part of a late-night group of old-timers who drank at O'Hanlon's.

The store was open from roughly 1987 to the late 1990s. Here's a review of it via The ARChive of Contemporary Music:

Reborn 14
Now this is a real junk shop. Books and vinyl smelling of fresh cat pee. Albums as marked inside the covers and singles at $2 reflect pricing while intoxicated. They actually have a toilet in the back which is available to all who can find it. Unique. Recover at the Beauty Bar across the street.

Unique indeed, the kind of store that really can't exist here anymore for several obvious reasons.

"I found a death record that almost has to be him," said Roy. "Still, it would be fun to see who remembers him or his weird little store."

Anyone?

16 comments:

rob said...

My favorite book store of all time! Books lying on the floor -- he never cleaned up -- and as you walked further back, magazines discarded everywhere. Clearly he hadn't been back there in years. He'd stay by the front eating a sandwich. You'd sit on the floor looking through all sorts of books, wondering what disease you were going to come up with from touching them. I loved that place -- genuine LES. In the '90's he moved the books to Avenue B just south of 14th St. just before Ave B upscaled. It lasted for a couple of years while the Egyptians ran the fruit stand on the opposite side -- best fruit stand ever, exotic fruit, ripe fruit, none of this green-picked-for-shelf-life. I got my first casaba, first star fruit, and I can still remember their comice pears like none other.

Thanks for posting this. I'm curious to know who else remembers him.

Gojira said...

I do. I still have some books that I bought there. He was a real neighborhood character, one of the ones that made the EV the unique and eccentric neighborhood that it used to be. (Nothing I bought there had cat pee on it, tho!) And I still recall the slightly psychedelic "Reborn 14" sign marking the place.

blue glsss said...

he lived o 13th street 2-3 for a while.
he never cleaned up after his dogs either and the sidewalk was a mess because of him. if i mentioned he had left something on the sidewalk he got pretty damn nasty.
he was not nice to his kids either (i think they were his kids). i always wondered what happened to them.
i was glad when he left the block.
he was a nasty piece of work.

nygrump said...

I do remember that place, and back then wandering 14th that far east was still risky business for a young corndog like myself...I don't think I ever bought anything there but spent some time digging. I was looking for old California Highway Patrolman magazine back issues and the old Process magazine or other publications.

glamma said...

that was before my time but i do remember blackout books on ave b and still miss it, was an awesome anarchist book store.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for bringing this up. I remember going here but never remembered the name, now I do! There used to be alot of these places in the EV in late 80s/early 90s. Yeah, it was junk but it was fucking beautiful. You never knew what you would find for next to nothing. On a related note there was a place on East 5th where I remember buying an old Trailways Bus brochure from the 50s, when you unfolded it it had all of their US bus routes pre-interstate. Other than the few exisiting flea markets in the city you can't walk into a store and randomly stumble across stuff like that anymore. Really a huge crying shame! The landscape of the East Village now, so freaking sad, it really is. It feels like a total violation.

Anonymous said...

Ha. I remember him --a slob, kind of unpleasant to customers but wow what a treasure trove of books. You had to literally dig around to find the good shit. I wondered what had happened to him and yeah, these "characters" from the EV are dropping like flies...

Steven Levan said...

YES!! I spent a lot of time in this bookstore. I'm an artist and illustrator and i would by a lot of books and old magazines for image and source material. As I read this post I was trying to figure out how many books in my studio library came from there. After the store on 14th closed he moved it briefly to the storefront in my building on Avenue B. One of my favorite places in the EV.

Utherben said...

Reborn 14 was an awesome place; much of my current literary tastes & proclivities were nurtured there. As soon as I saw the pic I was transported right back to the '80s!

If indeed he has passed, RIP and thanks for all the great reading.

Anonymous said...

I worked at a mystery fiction bookstore from 90 - 94 and used to frequent his store for out of print books - it was great.

Unknown said...

The store was a magical place and I remember buying piles of paperbacks here during high school. He had a few workers over time who looked like walking William Burroughs novels.

One memory - once overheard someone asking him if he was the owner...He answered with great emphasis, in heavy New Yorkese - "I'm not the owner, I'm the proprietor.

roy lee said...

thanks everybody! i ran across this photo in a drawer fulla photos and got curious about my old friend. i'm hoping he's still around.

Anonymous said...

Absolutely remember this store! I discovered Iceberg Slim paperbacks here!

roy lee said...

just got a message that bobby died 2 years ago. thanks everyone for your comments and help!

Anonymous said...

I just came across this post and I would like to thank you all for remembering him. This man is my grandfather. A wonderful man full of knowledge. Eccentric he was indeed. I wouldn't say he was mean to his children or grandchildren for that matter, but he came off a bit strong in his manner because he wanted us to think outside the box, think critically. Yes his merchandise was under priced, the store was a mess,he never listened to anyone,he did everything his way and we wouldn't have wanted him any other way. He loved his family his friends, and his animals. We miss him dearly..oh and we still have a warehouse full of his books ;)
~Alex

roy lee said...

alex, i'll be in new york in a few weeks and i'd like to buy you a beer at o'hanlon's bar, where i sat many many nights with your grandfather. he was something else. royleeshouse@gmail.com