Bookstores Around the World (rec.arts.books) (FAQ)

[Distribution list snipped]
John R. Yamamoto-Wilson wrote:
Annibale wrote:

Evelyn Leeper's lists are exhaustive and detailed. But for my
purposes they have never been useful. She has no experience in
pricing and buying op or rare books as a collector or dealer and
thus she has no way of judging the price level of an OP or Rare
book shop which she goes in to.


Personally, I have found it very useful to set off for a hitherto-unexplored
area of Tokyo with a printout of the relevant pages of Evelyn's exhaustive
lists. Unless one knows where to go, Tokyo is an impenetrable jungle, and
these lists at least point one's nose in the right direction, even if one
doesn't know until one gets there what one will find and whether it will be
worth it.


Speaking of Japanese bookstores: At the moment, I'm in the middle of
Murakami's _Norwegian Wood_ (the Rubin translation), in which the
narrator frequently mentions Kinokuniya, which seems to be a Japanese
version of Borders or B&N (although it looks like Kinokuniya is also now
in the US & Australia). In what ways is Kinokuniya like or unlike those
American stores?

Also in _NW_, Kinokuniya is contrasted with the shop owned by the father
of one of the characters; this shop is called a "bookstore" in this
translation, but it sounds--"So this 'bookstore' is almost all
magazines. Oh, there are a few books, paperbacks, like mysteries and
swashbucklers and romances."--more like what I'd call an indoor (as
opposed to freestanding) newsstand or newsagent. Is this an accurate
impression?


--Jon Meyers