Drop Your Elvis Costello Glasses and Your Organic Coffee. Put The Book In Their Hands. [Strand Week 2]

At an orientation yesterday a handful of new employees were debriefed on the history of the Strand and given a tour of the building that lasted a hour and 45 minutes. To steal from my fifteen year old self's favorite MTV video-doc: You think you know, but you have no idea.

The Strand is the last survivor of Book Row. Originally on 4th avenue, it was one of 48 book shops on the avenue. Book Row was established in the late 1890s and ran from Union Square to Astor Place. The current owner Fred Bass, son of founder Ben Bass, began working at the store when he was 13. In 1956 Ben Bass moved the store from 4th avenue to the current 12th street location, as Book Row had all but become moot.

In the 1970s, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist George F. Will wrote in an article about the store: "the eight miles worth saving in this city are at the corner of Broadway and 12th Street. They are the crammed shelves of the Strand Book Store." Today there are over 18 miles of books, adding to more than 2.5 million volumes that can be found on the same corner of 12th and Broadway. The Bass family recently bought the building as not to be victim of rising rent prices. Currently Fred and his daughter Nancy are the co-owners of the store. So that's the history.

Now the books.

I've mentioned the overwhelming amount of books before, but being led on tour through the building from the 5th floor warehouse to the basement was indescribable. I know think that if we don't have a book than it is either very popular and we can't keep it on the shelves or it doesn't actually exist. There are books that cost $35,000 dollars. $40,000. $45,000. The oldest book in the rare book room was printed in 1480. Now that I've walked through it all and have been given the history I feel like it is like the Louvre. You can't do it all in one day.

As far as characters go, The Strand is full of them. I need to start carrying a small notebook so I can do sketches of people when I am at work. The most surprising thing to me is that if you are friendly and talkative, customers will talk right back to you. They want to be a part of the Strand Club too. Which obviously makes me feel way cooler than I actually am. I thought that I was well-read before, but one thing has become painstakingly clear. I have read nothing. I didn't even know that "The Tale of the Genji" was accredited with being the oldest novel in the world. It was written by a woman in the early 11th century. Although I wasn't actually holding THE oldest novel in the world, holding the words was sort of magical. Very surreal. These moments happen every day. It certainly drives the point that there was a wondrous world before us and that wonder will persevere long after we've been replaced. Which leads me to everyone's favorite moment:

Gratitude Journal [entry #7]

1. Being surrounded by people much smarter than me
2. Introducing a very dapper gentleman to Marcel Proust
3. Having the courage to write it all down
   

A Writer's Gospel [words for the wiser]

The Guardian came out with a two part article called "Ten Rules for Writers". Various famous authors were interviewed. Overall, the three things a writer must carry with himself at all times are the same things that anyone should really carry with themselves at all times: perseverance, humility, and love. I would also add humor to that list. My personal favorite quote comes from Hilary Mantel in Part Two:

"Be ready for anything. Each new story has different demands and may throw up reasons to break these and all other rules. Except number one: you can't give your soul to literature if you're thinking about income tax."

Part One
Part Two

For more fun interviews like this, check out The Paris Review Interviews volumes I, II, III, and IV.

"What Happens When There Isn't Any More Room for a Book?" "Then the Books Shall Walk the Earth." [Strand Day 1]

Yesterday was my first day working as a goddess of fiction at The Strand. That is my self given title of course, but I think that business cards should be made up. My job at the moment is essentially to stack fiction books back on the shelves and help customers. Which is all well and good, however I came across some unexpected challenges.

The Strand is essentially a warehouse and anyone who has ever heard of it knows that its famous credo is "18 miles of books". The entire mileage of Manhattan is 22.96 miles. Think about that. Ok. Good.

My first challenge came with John Grisham. I had one of his books to stack and as you know, he has been quite prolific. When I tried to stack this particular book it wouldn't fit on the shelf so I took to rearranging it. If you take out some books and put them behind the other books you can make more room. This was my first time doing this yesterday morning and I was very proud of myself for learning how to be efficient so quickly. As usual I jumped the gun. Just when I slide the book I had into place a huge stack of books got pushed out on the other side of the shelf, falling from way high up. Luckily there was no one browsing in that isle because I'm pretty sure I could have caused some pretty serious injury.

My manager laughed and said "Ah yes, the old tumble." The first step of any sort of indoctrination is learning the language. "Tumble" is my first word. I proceeded to "tumble" again yesterday... again, no one was harmed. When I asked a fellow employee what happened when there really is no more room for a book he looked at the stack of books on the shelf that needed to be put back, looked at me, looked at the book in my hand, and said completely dead-pan "Then the books shall walk the Earth." Ok. By 5 PM my manager caught on that I was a "greeter" type (I'm guessing this means friendly? Haven't worked out this vernacular yet) and I was placed in the front of the store saying "Hello, welcome to The Strand" like a puppet. However, it was a welcome break from stacking books and a lot of funny people said "Hello Rachel!" (I had my name tag on) New York City man.

In my down time I've been doing a lot of writing. I'm applying to creative writing summer programs, hoping to refine my MFA manuscript so that I can send it out in the fall. I think that the Strand will be a positive place for me at the moment because if I don't write after being there then I will just feel straight up lazy. I've found that nothing good has ever come of this.

Today I will embark on day 2. Colorful stories to follow but now its time to be gracious.

Gratitude Journal [entry #6]

1. Mucinex
2. HBO on demand
3. The characters of New York City