“One of my favorite pastimes on the Upper West Side of New York is checking out the sidewalk used-book vendors; these characters (straight out of Dickens-scared-by-Stephen-King, with just a touch of Klingon grace and refinement) offer tables (or milk cartons, or blankets) covered with very used, seriously grimy, utterly irresistible old books. Spotting me for a sucker, they murmur insidiously tempting come-ons –”Paperbacks only one dollar! This pile 3 for 2 dollars! That’s out of print! You’ll never find it in a store!!”

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