The Strand Bookstore

The first stop for Jane during her book tour is Strand Book Store in New York City, and although I’ve never been, it was recommended by several people as a place where she might try out a sneak peek book signing and reading. In Jane, Actually, Melody Kramer, Jane’s agent, thinks it would be a good idea to hold an unannounced event in advance of their book launch parties in London and NYC, and picked Strand books. It’s a sort of dry run to see how well Jane and her avatar work a room.

Of course, never having been inside, I’m confused as to the layout of the store. I know it spreads over several floors and has a basement. I’ve seen pictures of a central staircase and hope, for my purposes, that some readings take place on the second floor. I figure Jane’s reading would be a semi-secret affair and wonder if  a closed-off room might be used for this purpose. Jane is a little worried when only seven people show up, but that’s because by accident an overflow sign has been set up and there are a bunch of people waiting outside the store.

It sounds like a wonderful store with just the right amount of clutter. As much as I love the Tattered Cover in Denver, it’s definitely a clean, well-lighted place for books, whereas the Strand basement looks like a maze of boxes and shelves with lots of little fans to stir the musty smell of books.

So if you have any knowledge of the book store and can comment whether that’s a likely scenario, I’d appreciate hearing from you.

PS There’s a four-hour C-SPAN show from 2004 about Strand that I am watching and it might tell me everything I need to know.