My Latest Obsession

Lotte Lenya, German crooner, icon.

My new favorite place in the whole world might be Gotham Book Mart. I passed it once by accident, and it seemed old and intriguing. Good thing I felt crummy enough to go on Thursday, because it was EXACTLY what the doctor ordered. Instead of the Gotham Book Mart, I think it should be called, Summer's Idea of Heaven. It's such an amazing place, it made refer to myself IN THE THIRD PERSON. Basically, all it is is an old new and used bookstore/literary landmark/gallery/home to all things literary and wonderful. I decided to go there because I had read that Henry Miller sold Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn there for the first time in the U.S. (albeit illegally). Turns out D.H. Lawrence and James Joyce did the same thing. Upon entering the store, you can view the pay stub made out to DH Lawrence for some of his booksales.

It's three floors of books, with the hugest orange cat I'd ever seen roaming the shelves. Upstairs I found a shelving system after my own heart, where entire shelves are dedicated to one author. Collette's shelf extends to all her books, diaries, letters, and biographies--both rare and out of print. Not only did I find rare books on Sylvia Plath (my secret fetish), but FIRST EDITIONS of Truman Capote, Ernest Hemmingway, Gore Vidal, etc.--all on the same shelves as every other book. You can imagine my surprise, combing through the shelves, when I came upon a first edition of For Whom The Bell Tolls, right there, accessible! Erica Jong's first book of poems, Fruits & Vegetables, long out of print, was found there, inscribed to her neighbor!

Above the new poetry section (easily the best poetry selection I've seen in years), is a framed SIGNED picture of Carson McCullers. I thought I was going to PASS OUT. Not only that, the staff is FRIENDLY, and they don't care if you're there for an HOUR AND A HALF and don't buy anything! One of the men upstairs finally said to me: "Well, you're really taking it all in!" I said, "I've never been here before, and I think this may be my favorite place on the planet!" As an employee, what are you going to say to that? Not much, but he did show me where the memoir section was and the Susan Sontag shelf was located.

I saw an old biography of the German entertainer, Lotte Lenya. I'd seen the book before, but the picture totally captivated me. Sometimes my life can be altered by a single picture, and this photograph of her sent me reeling. When I left the bookstore, I raced back to work to find a copy of it on the internet. Since then, I've been seeking out her recordings. Her voice GIVES ME SHIVERS. I've said this before, that sometimes artists and places come to you at the right time and place. I feel my imagination and inspiration doing CARTWHEELS at these two discoveries.