#69: Argosy Book Store
A store too classy for a good 69 joke
The Shop: Argosy Bookshop
Midtown, Manhattan: 116 East 59th Street
Argosy Book Store is a perfect spot if you want to feel like Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The stately, family owned, just shy of a century old book store has all the accouterments of old school, academic charm. There are shelves and shelves of finely aged leather bound books, green glass banker’s lamp-reminiscent lighting fixtures, framed paintings, and even a bust of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The sweater adorned staff sit at many desks in the space cataloging books and/or playing solitaire. Classical and jazz music play softly over the store's speakers. There are also a TON of books. While the ground floor has all the charm, I had the most fun scanning the floor to ceiling bookshelves in the sparsely decorated basement. How many books does Argosy have? They have no idea. The building's upper floors are a warehouse of books on books on books. They also have another warehouse in Brooklyn. You can find something interesting in every foot of this store, from pulpy sci-fi paperbacks, to framed New Yorker covers, to vintage book covers, and marbled paper. There’s also plenty of cool stuff on display, like a framed letter from legendary Pogo cartoonist Walt Kelly. Fear not thrifty folks! Though many of the fancier stuff on display goes into the $100-$1000 range, there’s a $3 rack right by the front and plenty of cheaper fare in the basement.
What I Got:
Virtual Light
William Gibson is the founding father of cyberpunk. Generations of fictional, leather-jacketed, druggy hackers owe their existence to his writing. I’ve been itching to read more Gibson since my paperback copy of Mona Lisa Overdrive got completely wrecked by one of last summer’s monsoons. Virtual Light is a 1993 novel and the beginning of Gibson’s Bridge Trilogy. This book takes place in an evil future version of San Francisco where wealth inequality has cleaved the city into an elite corporate upper class and a shadow network of poor folks doing what they can to survive on the fringes. You might say “hey, that sounds like San Francisco now,” which is true, but there’s also some sci-fi stuff too. Also this book takes place in 2006.
The Overton Window
I was confused at first to see this book in the fiction section— shouldn’t Glenn Beck be over in politics or current events? Imagine my gleeful surprise to find that Glenn Beck, Fox News-reject and kooky Right wing conspiracy theorist from before it was cool, had written a novel. A political thriller novel. A probably ghost written, critically panned novel that the Washington Post called “laughable” and Time called “half baked.” I had to buy this book to see just how crazy it really is. The best part is that by buying it used, I’m not in any way financially supporting Glenn Beck. Might have to switch out the dust jacket for the subway though…