Bob Eckstein and His World's Greatest Bookstores

Thanks to a birthday gift from my daughter, Lily, I am in the universe of Bob Eckstein’s paintings of the world’s greatest bookstores.

Lily gave me a set of postcards with 50 of Eckstein’s bookstore paintings. I am not sure if you will notice this but Eckstein’s painting of 192 Books in Manhattan, above, has a feel similar to that - - but brighter - - in Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks.

The set has the bonus of including two sets of cards. A person could mail cards from one set and use the others as keepsakes, desk/wall art or bookmarks.

My wife Dorothy, Lily and I got another bonus from the postcards. On my birthday, we looked at all the postcards and shared our own anecdotes, as individuals and family, about time we have spent in bookstores.

Of the 50 painting on the postcards, 45 appeared in Eckstein’s 2016 book, Footnotes* from the World’s Greatest Bookstores. Tied to the asterisk is the phrase “True Tales and Last Moments from Book Buyers, Booksellers, and Booklovers.” Eckstein added paintings of five other bookstores to the postcard set.

Footnotes includes paintings of 75 bookstores. The book has an appealing accompanying text, opening with a Foreword by Garrison Keillor and an Introduction by the author.

Of the 75 bookstores, 72 get two pages each. On the left page is the bookstore's name, location, dates of operation and a brief history. On the right page is Eckstein’s painting of the bookstore with one or more hand-lettered anecdotes.

The Strand Bookstore, New York, New York

Because of their importance, Eckstein devotes four pages each to Shakespeare and Company in Paris, Barbara’s Books in Chicago and Gotham Book Mart in Manhattan.

The back of each postcard has the bookstore name, location and dates of operation. On the front of the card is the painting without the anecdotes.

Except for six stores, including Gotham Book Mart, all the bookstores in the book are open; no closed stores are included in the postcard set.

Bookhampton, Main Street, East Hampton, New York

In his Introduction, Eckstein states he started with a list of over 150 bookstores and chose 75. The selections, he wrote, are “based on recommendations, word of mouth, social history and contributions to the locale.” Near the Introduction’s end, he observes, “While I was unable to include every great shop in this volume - - my apologies to those I did not get to yet - - I’d like to think this book is about all bookstores.”

Book Court, Brooklyn, New York

Eckstein also wrote “there had to be a good story,” from a reliable source, about each store. He started with over 300 stories and quotes, not including “the hundreds of ‘shop cat’ stories,” stories about cats in bookstores, he heard. In a recent e-mail conversation, Eckstein recalled, The bulk of the work on this book was “tracking down and finding amazing stories . . . I used a third of the stories I reported.”

The most frequent story Eckstein heard was about someone proposing marriage in a store - - and some of these newlyweds had the reception at the store.

One of my favorite stories includes the late William Safire and John K. King Used and Rare Books. While browsing, Safire lost track of time and realized he would miss a radio interview. “We had to rush him uptown, running through red lights, just to get him to the gig,” recalls owner John King. “Luckily,” King said, “we were driving an old police car.”

When William Faulkner finished his first novel, he told Sherwood Anderson and that author walked away. Later, Faulkner met Mrs. Anderson while out walking. She said her husband “would make a trade with you. If he does not have to read your manuscript, he will tell his publisher to accept it.”

Regrettably I do not have space to share Eckstein’s anecdotes about Anne Rice’s arrival at a bookstore or Dave Barry’s unsettling book signing. In addition to this book and postcard set,

Eckstein’s website proclaims that he is the “world’s leading snowman expert.” His research on this subject led to the recently published, The Illustrated History of the Snowman. He has drawn illustrations and cartoons for National Lampoon, Mad, The New York Times and The New Yorker. His work at The New Yorker helped him prepare his 2019 book, Everyone’s A Critic: The Ultimate Cartoon Book by the World’s Greatest Cartoonists.

Bob Eckstein

This portfolio of bookstore paintings originated when Eckstein painted some of the most beautiful bookstores in New York City for The New Yorker’s website. Within hours of the piece appearing in The New Yorker, Eckstein’s agent called and told him that Penguin Random House had offered a book deal for a worldwide portfolio. Eckstein recalls that he “was excited and grateful but at that time I was unaware how big a project it would become.” “Slowly as I meet dozens and dozens of bookstore owners,” he continued, “did my impressions of this business unfold.”

The paintings in this book look as if they have been done in oils, acrylics or watercolors. But Eckstein explained, “I use a computer painting software and a drawing tablet.” Although the paintings have an on the street feel, Eckstein said, “Just a handful were done plein air and those were done at the project’s beginning - - before I realized the scope of the job.”

McNally Jackson Bookstore, New York, New York

When Eckstein started this project, he approached it as an artist. “By the time I was half way through the assignment,” he said, “I became very emotionally invested in the plight of independent bookstore owners.” He has become preoccupied with raising awareness for bookstore owners by writing Op Eds about them and appearing on radio and podcasts to explain the importance of these beloved institutions. “I call them,” he concluded, “Main Street’s intellectual hubs.”

Eckstein does not have a bookstore sequel in the works. “If there was more public demand for one," he is “ready with 75 bookstore stories and paintings to share in a sequel.” “I have instead moved on,” he said “and worked on other books, including a thank you to bookstores for supporting my bookstores book, called The Ultimate Cartoon Book of Book Cartoons By The World’s Greatest Cartoonists.”

The Last Bookstore, Los Angeles, California

Bob’s postcard set, Footnotes and his other books are available at independent bookstores and at his website.  This website also includes a link to Bob's free newsletter, which includes cartoons and stories.