This is such a great post about independent bookstores in Brooklyn. I worked at Community Bookstore in the fall and winter of 2001, when people from the neighborhood were still coming in to thank Catherine Bohn and the staff for their work after 9/11. It was a great job. I remember John Turturro coming in, and Paul Auster. There were always a lot of writers sitting in the back with their laptops, near a counter where I made cappuccinos and read every Ruth Reichl memoir in between customers. I used to wonder how the writers got any writing done; mostly they talked to each other. I ended up leaving the bookstore to work at a literary agency. Catherine seemed to think that I would have learned more about the publishing industry at the bookstore--and in many ways I think she was right!
Thank you so much for this lovely window on life inside the bookstore! I too worked in a bookstore before working in publishing—Michael Braziller at Perseus recommended it, saying that too few people in publishing were ever out there putting books in people’s hands. It was one of the funnest times of my life. My fellow bookstore workers were some of the most energetic readers I have ever met.
Ann, I so agree! Before Community Bookstore, I worked in a used bookstore in Austin, Texas, near the University of Texas campus. I have always called it the best job I ever had. You learn a lot about publishing--and a lot about human psychology when you have to tell someone that their garage full of John Grisham and Michael Crichton hardbacks is not worth more than a quarter. I'm so glad I had that experience!
So delighted to see Community and Terrace featured this month! Stephanie and Nick are dear friends and wonderful people.
How nice of you to comment! I wonder if we have a disproportionate # of Community/Terrace-adjacent readers on here...
This is such a great post about independent bookstores in Brooklyn. I worked at Community Bookstore in the fall and winter of 2001, when people from the neighborhood were still coming in to thank Catherine Bohn and the staff for their work after 9/11. It was a great job. I remember John Turturro coming in, and Paul Auster. There were always a lot of writers sitting in the back with their laptops, near a counter where I made cappuccinos and read every Ruth Reichl memoir in between customers. I used to wonder how the writers got any writing done; mostly they talked to each other. I ended up leaving the bookstore to work at a literary agency. Catherine seemed to think that I would have learned more about the publishing industry at the bookstore--and in many ways I think she was right!
Thank you so much for this lovely window on life inside the bookstore! I too worked in a bookstore before working in publishing—Michael Braziller at Perseus recommended it, saying that too few people in publishing were ever out there putting books in people’s hands. It was one of the funnest times of my life. My fellow bookstore workers were some of the most energetic readers I have ever met.
Ann, I so agree! Before Community Bookstore, I worked in a used bookstore in Austin, Texas, near the University of Texas campus. I have always called it the best job I ever had. You learn a lot about publishing--and a lot about human psychology when you have to tell someone that their garage full of John Grisham and Michael Crichton hardbacks is not worth more than a quarter. I'm so glad I had that experience!