Transcript

(electronic tones)

I don't know if I'm allowed to curse on here,

but the first impression was holy shit.

(upbeat drum music)

It's like a cavern of books.

(dramatic music)

It's my first time in here.

I've gone by this place several times

in the past seven or eight years.

I've never come in

and tonight we had dinner across the street,

the door was open, the lights were on,

and this place is definitely incredible.

It reminds me of my...

grandmother's basement.

(acoustic guitar music)

What's up with this guy?

(chuckling) What in, like, what is this black hole

of a hoarder's nest?

I don't know, I...

I don't know if I could work through that

but whoever owns this,

clearly, you know, it works for them.

He has a compulsion, obviously.

Certainly not a neat freak.

I would imagine him to be a bit of a pack rat. (laughs)

In my mind it's somebody who (laughs)

lives somewhere in the building and, like,

never leaves. (laughs)

That's what I want it to be.

He seems nice.

Eclectic man of the neighborhood.

He's always extremely helpful.

Yeah, it's just a person who knows that, like,

the place we find ourselves is in literature.

Even if it were better organized it's kinda like,

well no, fuck it.

Like, let's just give them

as much as we can possibly give them.

(acoustic guitar music)

How would he find anything? (chuckles)

He knows where every book is, this guy.

Man's Search for Meaning, Victor...

Frankl. Frankl.

Uh, all the way in the back.

I might have a new one, a new paperback.

I don't think I have a used one.

(upbeat drum music)

(bell dings)

Yeah, (clears throat)

I have a new one. Which is this now?

Oh good, now--

(acoustic guitar music)

How many books do I think are in here?

Oh, is this like a jelly bean jar question?

Oh my God, millions.

Infinite.

There are an infinite amount of books in here.

It's like high stakes Jenga in here.

You don't have to worry about knockin' anything over

'cause it's gonna happen.

(books crashing to the floor)

(man laughing)

I did not do that.

I didn't even touch a book.

Fuck!

[Customer] Sir, I'm telling you right now,

I didn't even touch a book.

No, okay, all right.

That's all right.

(acoustic guitar music)

(books clattering)

[Customer] Holy shit.

(acoustic guitar music)

(woman laughing)

(acoustic guitar music)

I'm attached to it.

Yeah, I love it and I hate it, it's a lot of work.

It's a very difficult business, yeah.

It gets harder and harder to make ends meet.

(acoustic guitar music)

You know, one year at a time, I'd say.

I came here in 1985, then I met my second wife

in about...

1988.

She helped a lot with the store.

She passed away in 2002.

It was hard...

just to live, not just to go on with the bookstore.

She was like the opposite of me

because she was always straightening everything out.

Now it's gotten to the point where

even she couldn't straighten out.

(acoustic guitar music)

It's just too much.

It's too much work.

I'm 69 years old, I just can't go on doing it.

You can make a lot of money and kill yourself, so...

what good is that?

(acoustic guitar music)

[Customer] Every time I pass here I think,

oh man, I wonder how John's doing.

I haven't seen him in so long. John is...

Is still half sane.

You have so many more books than even a couple years ago.

This is amazing to me

[John] I sold the building, so...

[Customer] Oh, you did?

Next May I'm gonna close the store.

I have to close the store. Oh no!

Yeah.

This is gonna be like, uh...

(sighs loudly) a restaurant or something. (chuckles)

And I heard that it's somebody,

the people who bought it own a Victoria's Secret

or something in Herald Square. (chuckles)

Which is really sad.

I find it really sad.

I mean, it's sad to lose things like this,

but I feel like it's more of a responsibility

on the next generation to make things like this happen.

We can't just expect them to, like, stick around forever.

(acoustic guitar music)

Where do you see yourself going?

You mean to live?

Not as a book store.

I wouldn't start another book store.

Yeah, perhaps eventually buy a small apartment.

But I'd like to stay in the neighborhood

'cause it's a wonderful neighborhood.

(acoustic guitar music)

It's fun, and it's very difficult, too.

So, I just decided to stop.

Good for him.

It's sad, though, for us.

(acoustic guitar music)