Cheese?

A few nights ago I was sitting here at my computer, having just finished some data entry when I heard a visitor at the front door. I started to go over to ask the customer if he had a book need, when I realized he was talking on his cell phone. Not wanting to interfere, I stuck my nose in a copy of The Stranger, by Camus, and waited to see if he knocked.

Over the next five minutes I overheard one side of a conversation a former New Yorker describe my store to a friend; naturally, he made comparisons to those he was familiar with in Gotham. “Big room”, “library-style shelves”, were some of the words used, but one comment stuck in my head, “…you know that cheesy store near Brooklyn?”

Cheesy? Boy! My store and I have been called a lot of things in our thirteen years together, but cheesy isn’t one of them!

I suppose if you were to compare Book Oasis to some high-end antigue store, or one of the big superstores, that comment might have some relevance. On the whole, though, most of my customers have always been pleased with the decorations and style of the shop. I have always tried to pick furnishings that have meaning or some history behind them. Like the books themselves, here, each shelf or chair has a story behind it. Here’s a random sampling:

My mother bought the children’s table and chair set for me, when I first started out in the business in 1993. The chairs will support and adult’s weight, as many a book-reading parent has discovered. Also, in the days before there were any other tables here, I ate many a lunch in the children’s section.

A friend of mine, Brian Leibowitz, who happens to be a great carpenter, constructed the wooden hard cover bookcases under contract. Even some professionals have remarked on the good workmanship.

The bamboo carving behind glass near my computer was a gift from a customer, who picked it up in Hong Kong in the 1950’s, when he was in the Merchant Marines. A couple of years ago, he and his wife moved out of state, but gave me several of his possessions, in memory of several years of happy book-shopping.

The Book Oasis sign hanging from the ceiling used to hang in the front windows of my two previous locations. Originally, the store logo was painted on the glass of my South “K” Street store, but the window broke during the big windstorms we had in 1995. The hanging sign in the worked better. The design is mine; a local artist, Lonnie Franklin, did the painting.

The library-style shelving was picked up from a surplus dealer, who was actually planning on dumping them in a landfill! The move and setup took several weeks, and I actually had to rent a 25-foot truck to transport them all. The wooden shelves they replaced were picked up by several passers-by, including one fellow who cannibalized the wood to construct a cabana for his backyard pool.

The blue chair near the Romance section was a gift from my friend Shawn Allyn. A few weeks back, one of the feet broke off, so all of them were sawed off to make the chair level. I thought this arrangement would elicit complaints, but several customers have remarked how sturdy and comfortable it is. And, hey, the customer’s always right.

The Italian-style picture near the Rare Cabinets—“Views of Ancient Rome” by Panini—was a picture I had seen at a yard sale, but the seller wanted too much money for it. I told him I’d come back when he was willing to deal. I returned, but he had already sold it, and my heart broke. However, a week later, the picture came in through the front door, under the arm of my friend, Don Meeker. He was the one who had bought it, as a present for me! Now is that synchronicity, or what?

So, in the face of so much history, and the generosity of friends, can this store really be called “cheesy”? I don’t think so. But then, that fellow never actually came into the shop, did he? He stood outside in the keening wind and recited comments into a wireless phone; he judged the book by its cover—or, perhaps—by the first few pages. But, as every good reader knows, you have to get into the body of a story to appreciate the ingredients.

Regardless, I hope that man comes back. He will discover not cheese, but a fairly decent souffle!



Larry Burdick on 10.12.06 @ 07:19 PM PST [link]