2011年7月11日 星期一

The Strand Book Store

The Strand Book Store at 828 Broadway (and 12th St)

Strand Bookstore is an independent bookstore located in New York City's East Village. Its slogan is "18 Miles of Books". The store is famous among New Yorkers for its giant collection of publishers' overstock, used, rare, and out-of-print books, as well as the chaos on and around its shelves. The store houses the city's largest collection of rare books, and is also a contender for the title of world's largest used bookstore, its major competitor in this regard being Powell's Books of Portland, Oregon. The Strand occupies 55,000 square feet of space while Powell's flagship Burnside location has over 68,000.

A family-owned business with more than 200 employees, the Strand was opened by Benjamin Bass in 1927 on 4th Avenue's Book Row. His son Fred took over the business in 1956 and soon moved the store to the present location at the corner of East 12th Street and Broadway. They gave jobs in the store to many Lower East Side artists, including Patti Smith (who claimed not to have liked the experience because it "wasn't very friendly")[1] and Tom Verlaine, both rock artists of the 1970s. Fred's daughter Nancy is co-owner of the store, and is also married to U.S. Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon. The store occupies three and a half floors, using half a floor for offices and one additional floor as warehouse space.

位於紐約曼哈頓14街與百老匯大道的聯合廣場(Union Square)是一個獨特的所在。

一眼看上去,它只是一個休憩所與交通樞紐。地鐵站的出口在這裡,許多路巴士在不同的街道設有站點。所謂的廣場,不過是圍繞著華盛頓雕像約莫20-30平米左右的一片小空地,四周蔥鬱地圍繞著一個小型公園。

但它是一個時尚場。從廣場四通八達延伸出去的街道上,佈滿了服裝、鞋子、化妝品、家具等等名牌店鋪。與第五大道的霸權形像不同,這裡更加吸引平民時尚的買家。

它是一個美食匯。有兩個大型的食品超級市場在附近,散落著許多家在紐約鼎鼎大名的餐廳,其中包括川菜館子。

它是一個文化中心。紐約大學散落在許多街區中的校園延伸到這裡,許多學生和教師的公寓就摻雜在民房之中,往來無白丁。於是這裡樹立著“維珍唱片”的旗艦店,與大型書店連鎖Barnes & Noble和Borders相互呼應。

它又是一個政治角力點。在狹小的聯合廣場上,每天都可以看到各種政治主張的人在這里高談闊論,發表演講。一到總統大選,這裡警察遍地,因為它和34街的麥迪遜廣場一樣,是民主共和兩黨選民對抗賽的主戰場。

所以,如果你到了紐約而沒有到聯合廣場,你的旅程有缺憾。

可是,如果你是讀書之人,你到了聯合廣場,卻沒有到Strand書店,那就相當於,你既沒有來過聯合廣場,也沒有來過紐約。普利策獎得主喬治•威爾(George Will)說:“這個城市唯一值得保存的8英里就在百老匯大街和第12街的交匯處,它們擠滿在Strand Book Store的書架上。”

與廣場兩條街之隔的Strand,是紐約、美國和全世界最大的二手書店,它目前的宣傳語是:18英里的書。意思是說:如果把店裡的書排列起來的話,長度可以達到18英里。

可是我說的是“二手書店”,而不是舊書店。事實上,Strand裡面的書,相當大的一部分,都是新書、暢銷書。 Strand一共有3層半。地下一層全是新書和暢銷書,價格多數在定價的一半或者75折。這些書的來源多數是全美各地的書評人。

出版社為了增加銷量,往往都會在書籍出版之前,郵寄大量的樣書給書評人。美國大大小小的媒體幾乎都有書評版面,需要書評人來填空。不幸的是,多數書評人並非愛書之人,在寫完甚或沒寫書評之後,就把這些書用大約1/4左右的價錢賣給Strand。

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