Relaxin' Girl
192 Books, Chelsea West
We’re privileged, we book-loving New Yorkers, and we don’t even know it. As dedicated readers and writers, rarely do we experience a dearth of the corporate-dominated meccas as well as the slew of mom and pop shops that dot all areas of the city. If you’re looking for a book and you have to be in New York, odds are you will find it. You will find signed first editions, perhaps the dog-eared author’s copy, pen marks canvassing the insides. You want your foamy chai latte and a whole floor to devour the latest cookbooks, trash magazines, and plan that possible trip to Peru - then visit the closes Barnes and Nobles. No worries, they’re careful to be within a mile radius of one another.
However, if your palate is a touch more discriminating, visit 192 books. Owner, Jack MacRae, is practically an institution in the New York literary and arts scene. This is a man who knew everyone and always dishes great stories. The bookstores featuring key works of literature and history, art and criticism, the social and natural sciences, travel and children’s books, and more - you could tell all the books on the shelves and tables were chosen with particular and refined care. Careful to ensure that all the books, works of part, connect and disconnect in some interesting and pivotal way.
In addition to regularly presenting art exhibitions accompanied by a selection of titles relating to the artists or the theme explored, the store hosts reservation-only reading/speaking engagements with the world’s eminent authors: Veronica Gaitskill, Salman Rushdie, Joan Didion, Paul Auster, Paula Fox, just to name a few.
192 Books operates purely for the aficionado. Dig up those hard-to-find books on the obscure German artist you love, purchase the definitive book on New York architecture, and with a knowledgable staff, they’ll have find a new author to fall in love with.
192 Books
192 Tenth Avenue at 21st
New York, NY
Subway: C/E to 23rd Street
