Best Store to Hear an Author

192 Books

192 Tenth Ave., 212-255-4022

With an atmosphere that’s more home library than bookstore, this airy shop provides a welcome reprieve from the big-box feel of the city’s larger chains, making it an excellent, cozy place to catch a reading by your favorite author-of-the-moment. The readings are free but require reservations because of limited space, so bibliophiles in attendance are assured an experience free of the jostling and neck-craning that accompany most such events. They’re also a great deal, as most of the authors are A-listers (Jane Smiley, Salman Rushdie, John Ashbery, to name a recent few) whom fans pay big money to see at venues like the New York Public Library or the 92nd Street Y—meaning attendees can pick up one of the gorgeous art books the store’s famous for without feeling a bit of spender’s remorse.

From the 2007 Best of New York issue of New York Magazine

Competition breeds the best. If only one pizzeria existed in New York, of course, there’d be no real winning slice. Thankfully, we’ll never know what that sorry situation tastes like, since pizza—like dance parties, dog runs, and fried chicken—has to evolve upward here.