#70: The Corner Bookstore

The shop around the corner....

The Shop: The Corner Bookstore 

Upper East Side, Manhattan: 1313 Madison Ave

A stone's throw away from Central Park sits the Corner Bookstore, a decades old bookseller with a timeless atmosphere. The shop feels old but more classic than musty, with gorgeous old display cases and an antique cash register. The most special thing about this store is the community vibe— the staff know their local customers (and their dogs) well and have great conversations with them to recommend great books. The whole north wall of this store is kid based, from early readers to YA. I suspect most of their business happens on these shelves! There’s plenty more selection in the rest of the store, with new fiction and nonfiction hardcovers alongside classics and coffee table books. For folks who live or work nearby, this is a shop where it’s worth becoming a regular.

What I got:

Hamlet

Despite my many hours logged in theaters and theater adjacent spaces, I am not nor have I ever been a Shakespeare guy. Despite my objections, I’ve just signed on to work on a weirdo downtown production of Hamlet next summer— which gives me a year and some change to get prepared. Watch me go full Orson Welles on this one.

In other news:

I had the amazing experience of getting profiled for the Cafe Anne Substack, which features all kinds of delightful NYC eccentricities. You can read the piece here!

Thanks a ton to Anne for writing this lovely piece about my Substack which according to my girlfriend Marissa “captured my essence.” I concur! To all the new subscribers who have joined since this piece came out last week, welcome and thanks for being here!