All language subtitles for Hello.Bookstore.2022.WEBRip.x264-ION10

Curbside only.

If you know what you're
looking for, we can provide.

It's just the way
it works for me.

- But you're not open.
- Not for browsing, no.

Just for curbside.

You really don't want
to do that, huh?

I don't want people in here.

- Okay.
- It's a place

where the virus can catch.

Not for coming in.
Just for curbside.

If you know what you're
looking for, we might have it.

If you wanna look
on the website,

we have lots of pictures
of the books.

But we're not
letting anyone in.

Even you.
Man is not alone.

I thought you said "Nan."

I thought it was like...
a teenager book.

It's called,
"The Pull of the Stars."

- All right.
- And then some other stuff.

Uh, Judaica?

Can I recommend
something there?

- All right.
- Okay, hold on.

'Cause I got somebody
at the door.

Let me ask him what he wants,
and I'll be right back.

- Hi.
- Hi.

So you're not
letting folks in...

- No, no browsing inside.
- Oh, that's a shame.

I know. I know.
I apologize.

No, that's all right.
Are you Matt?

- Yeah.
- Well I'm glad

- The Bookstore's healthy.
- Thank you. Thank you.

I... yeah, so,
is there a place online...

The Bookstore...
The Bookstore website,

you can browse.
And we have pictures

of a lot of the books
on the website.

So you can't order
on the website,

but you can call me
or email me.

Okay, perfect,
thank you very much.

- What's your name?
- I'm Alex.

I'm a TV writer from LA.

And a couple
of my friends are like,

if you go out there you have
to go this bookstore.

Right.
Yeah, yeah.

Glad to see you're open
a little bit.

- Right.
- But thank you...

How long are you here for?

About another week
and a half.

- Okay, so we'll see you again.
- A hundred percent.

Good, thanks, man.

Okay,
so... um...

[distant voice on phone]

New nonfiction?

Okay...

Right.

Okay, hold on one second,
'cause I'm... getting

a delivery, and I've got
to get him in and out.

I've got one more
for you, sir.

Thank you, man.

It's just really hard.

People go through hard times.

It's just, it's like...
it's so boring.

It's so different.

From everything.

[phone ringing]

[laughing]

[phone ringing]

Hello, Bookstore.

[soft guitar]

[chuckling]
Okay, whatcha lookin' for?

The first line is,
"I love autumn.

That time of year agrees
well with memories."

Somebody's gotta
put them away.

And when... you do this,

When you're the one
whose putting the books away,

you see... everything.

You see...
what you have room for.

Then...

sometimes, then
somebody comes in

later that day,
and you have something

very, you know...

recent in your memory
of a book.

"Oh, I have
just the one for you."

It's so much fun to do that.

[chuckling]

The whole thing is,
it's so much fun.

Hello.
Help with anything?

[woman] Just looking.
It's-- you know,

- it's like a candy store.
- It is a candy store.

Just, you know...
are your hands clean?

[chuckling]

The wine bar is open.

And our motto is,
you can't drink all day

unless you start
in the morning.

- So...
- I'm too old for that.

- [chuckling] Oh.
- I remember doing that.

- All right then.
- A long time ago.

- I-- now I remember you.
- It's always like,

if you start,
you gotta keep going.

Otherwise you'll fall asleep.

Died in 1988.

I remember her stuff though.

A biography
of Mary Cassatt, right.

And a diary.
She did a diary.

Two memoirs.

People walk in,
and they have, you know...

all the various aspects
of their lives.

And... And there's
a book for everyone.

- [laughing]
- True.

I got a book for you.

[woman] How about this one?
This one was really good.

- You loved this one.
- Yeah, I did love

- that one.
- This is great.

A woman came in the store,
and she said,

"Do you have
'The Secret Life of Trees'?"

And I do,
it's down here

in the nature section,
so I said,

did you read
"The Overstory"?

And she said, "Oh, I thought
it was contrived."

Fine, you know, that's,
everybody, you can...

- Right.
- ...have your own opinion.

- Right. Right.
- So... I get down here,

and I get her book.
And I have to get down

on my knee
to get the book.

And I get it,
and I hand it to her,

and she says, "Thank you."

And then I held out
my hand like this,

- and I said...
- Help me up.

- Are you gonna help me up?
- Oh, I thought you were

- gonna propose.
- Just, are you gonna

help me up? And she says,
"That's your problem."

Oh! She... Okay!

And it started to rain.

And she knew that she probably
should seek shelter.

- Yeah.
- But she didn't wanna leave.

The forest was just
so beautiful in the rain.

- Yeah.
- And then she...

hunkered down under a...

the trunk of a tree
that had fallen.

And underneath the tree...

underneath,
in that little hollow,

I saw the moss growing.

[woman] Wow...

[man] Okay,
thank you, okay.

- Hello there, Matthew.
- No, no, no...

Sneaking behind the desk where
I'm never ever supposed to go.

Oh, my goodness-- oh.

"Why do I remember you
as a singing bird?

[laughter]

"My heart is warm
with the friends I make.

And better friends
I'll not be knowing.

But there isn't a train
I wouldn't take.

No matter where it's going."

"Travel,"
by Edna St. Vincent Millay.

I should be able to do
better than this.

I should be able to...
let's say switch,

um, the Coates
and the Zadie Smith.

Although, I don't want
that green one over here

because there's
a green one over here.

So I'll move this green one
over here a little bit,

just like so.

And everything is better.

"Topeka School" is larger,
and I don't-- I want

only small books
in the front here.

So, like
the Edna O'Brien maybe.

But what you lose there is
that it's not face out

as soon as you walk in.
Here's the Crowley.

I'll put the Crowley over here.

Because I can tell people
about the Crowley.

Oh, this came in
today, oh, good.

And we got the
"Charlie the... Tramp."

And "Harvey's Hideout."

So, would you--
will you call her

and tell her
we got this one in?

- Yeah, absolutely.
- And does she know

that there's
a new one coming also?

Yes.

First American publication.

A young woman.
A married man.

A searing love story.
A masterpiece.

"By Grand Central Station,
I sat down and wept."

I found a copy of this book
in a secondhand store

in Tangiers.

It looked terrific,
but I didn't buy it.

I found another
secondhand copy

in... a bookshop in Paris

when I was traveling
in Africa and Europe.

And, uh, didn't buy it.

And always regretted not
having bought it.

And finally when I bought
The Bookstore in 1976,

this edition was available.

It's a used bookstore
with new books.

That is, the value
of an older book

is... still appreciated.

After college,
when I was in the Navy,

is when I met a guy.

And he turned me on
to Henry Miller.

Yeah, Miller.
Mailer. Kerouac.

Fred Exley.

And I fell in love
with writing.

That's what happened.
I fell in love with writing.

So I understood somehow

that this world of books

was...

fascinating,
it was... just...

it was completely
different from my life.

The world of the stories
that I found in books

was so far away from mine,
it was like,

[whispering]
nobody else knew.

I was the only one who knew
what these stories were.

Let me know if we can help
with anything.

The town has changed.

It is. I mean,
it changes all the time.

I think the social aspect
of it has... weakened.

I miss a lot of the old people.

Like Tony Bar Tony would have
one cast of characters.

You would have your...

- Crowd, yeah.
- ...more of the literary type.

There were a lot
of characters in our town.

"'Well,' said Grandfather,

'Charlie's getting to be
a big boy.'

'Yes.' Grandfather took
a quarter out of his pocket.

'What are you gonna be when
you grow up?' said Grandfather.

'I'm going to be a tramp.'

Grandfather put the quarter
back into his pocket."

[laughing]

- I want to be a tramp.
- You would love this book.

- Are you a secret agent?
- A what?

A secret agent.
No, he is.

- He is.
- Okay.

- No comment.
- [laughter]

Together, we'll take
good pictures,

and we'll get them
published.

But we gotta come up
with a... pen name.

You know, a new name
for the both of our work.

And the name they came up with
was Robert Capa.

So Gerda Taro

and André Friedman were
Robert Capa.

Huh.

You know Russell Hoban
because he wrote

all of the "Bread
and Jam for Frances."

Oh yeah, totally.

Hi.

So, you know, this is...
a book about sibling rivalry.

Oh, perfect.

She comes to her...

to her memory
through literature.

Through the poems.

Through poets.

Through the filter
of the life

- that she lives.
- Okay, okay.

You wanna know how it ends?

[laughing]

I'll just go
with this one, I guess.

- Okay. Great.
- Just get that.

[whistling]

- Hello.
- Well, good afternoon.

Is it afternoon?

- How are you?
- I don't recognize you.

You've got so many mittens
and... scarves and...

- [laughter]
- It's cold.

You're free to the air.
How are you?

[woman] Something
that has been weighing

on my moral conscience is
the number of books

that I order through Amazon
for convenience sake.

And it has occurred to me--
I know, I know.

I said it.
I said it out loud.

It has occurred to me that
not only is this, like,

an environmental catastrophe,

but that, you know,

I could do better in terms
of supporting bookstores.

And I was wondering,
I don't want to be

a pain in the neck either,
but I was wondering

if I let you know
in advance

the books that I need,
could I procure them

- from you?
- Absolutely.

So you're deep...
into "Harry Potter"?

Deep.

I think I... have
a gift for you.

We missed
the "Harry Potter" Halloween.

Can I... find
something for you

- from that event?
- [laughing]

- Is it a magic wand?
- Uh-huh.

[soft guitar]

I couldn't button
my pants today.

[laughing]

So, do you have to go out
and buy all these new clothes?

Not yet.

I'm just gonna put
tank tops over.

This is...

Speaking of
"nourishing the new mother."

Are you--
so you're eating more?

- Yeah.
- Wow.

- Is this your fork?
- It is.

- I'm sorry it's not washed.
- It's fine.

- [laughing]
- I was missing it.

- You want a bag?
- No.

- Okay.
- All right.

- I'll see you tomorrow.
- All right, so,

what's happening is,
so you'll come in tomorrow

and help me out
a little bit-- Sunday,

since I haven't had
a day off in a while,

I'm taking the day off.

- Yeah.
- Cool, all right.

- You go home.
- Okay.

- Say hi to Michael.
- I will. Love you.

Love you too.

"At seven,
I was a soldier.

At nine, a prince.

But now, I'm mostly
at the window

watching
the late afternoon light.

Back then,
it never fell so solemnly

against the side
of my treehouse.

It seems only yesterday,

I used to believe
there was nothing

underneath my skin
but light.

If you cut me,
I could shine."

But it was... after
Sheila died that I was...

that whatever it was
that happened to me

as the survivor,
as the spouse, as the...

whatever guilt you have
as a survivor.

You know, whatever things
you want to do, raising--

realizing that
I'm raising this family,

these children...

just like I was raised
by a single parent

after my--
after I was orphaned.

So I understood
that my kids were orphaned.

They had me,
but they were orphaned.

And... it was just
a combination

of that knowledge,
and that wisdom, and that...

visceral sense of the...

of our lifespan.

[somber piano]

Actually, can we get a bag?

- Of course.
- [chatter]

I'll give you
some bookmarks.

Awesome, thank you.

I don't think people
should ask you

- if you're gonna have kids.
- [laughing]

It's such an intensely
personal question and topic.

Yeah.

The doctor was like...

she couldn't find
the heartbeat at first.

And then she was like,
"Wait-- is it that low?"

She was like, "Oh, my God,
you poor thing.

It's still
sitting this low?

Are you peeing
all the time?"

Whatever.

So, yes, I am.

"A man was
cleaning the attic

of an old house
in New England,

and he found a box
which was full

of tiny pieces of string.

On the lid of the box,
there was

an inscription
in an old hand:

'string too short
to be saved.'"

[soft guitar]

"While the moon
smoothly shifted

the shadows from one side
of Edgewood to the other,

Daily Alice dreamed
that she stood

in a flower starred field,

where on a hill
there grew an oak tree

and a thorn in deep embrace,

their branches
intertwined like fingers.

Far down the hall,
Sophie dreamed there was

a tiny door in her elbow,

open a crack,
through which the wind blew,

blowing on her heart."

"Doctor Drinkwater dreamed
he sat before his typewriter

and wrote this:

'There is an aged,
aged insect

who lives
in a hole in the ground.

One June, he puts on
his summer straw

and takes his pipe and staff

and his lamp
in half his hands,

and follows
the worm in the root

to the stair
that leads up to the door

into blue summer.'

This seemed immensely
significant to him,

but when he awoke,
he wouldn't be able

to remember a word of it,
try hard as he might.

Mother beside him dreamed
her husband wasn't

in his study at all,
but with her in the kitchen,

where she drew
tin cookie sheets

endlessly out of the oven.

The baked things on them
were brown and round,

and when he asked her
what they were,

she said, 'Years.'"

[soft guitar]

"King Richard II."
"King Richard III."

"Love's Labour's Lost."
"Macbeth."

"Anthony and Cleo..."
"All's Well that Ends Well."

"Anthony and Cleopatra."
"As You Like It."

"Hamlet."
"Julius Caesar."

"Timon of Athens."
"Titus Andronicus."

"Two Gentlemen in Verona."

"Two Noble Kinsmen."
"Winter's Tale."

- Hi.
- Hi, "28 Summers."

"28 Summers."

Okay, why don't you
back up a little bit,

and I'm going to put it
on that stool right there.

- Okay.
- That's our protocol.

- Thanks.
- Thank you. Okay.

- Enjoy it.
- Thank you.

All right.

- Hi.
- Hey, how are ya?

Listen, do you have
any Elizabeth Taylor in there?

Elizabeth Taylor?
Maybe.

Let's see what we have.

Am I on the phone? No...

Nope.
No Elizabeth Taylor.

- Hi.
- Hi.

No, I don't have
anything in stock.

Can I get something for you?

No, I didn't realize
we couldn't browse.

- Yeah, sorry.
- Judy.

I put aside
"Girl, Woman, Other."

- I just called you.
- Judy, okay, hold on.

Do you want me to get you
a copy of the Jane Austen?

No, because
I won't be here.

That would be great.

Monica.

Oh, Monica...

And...

[humming softly]

- [beep]
- That's it.

Expiration?

What's the secret number?

Four digits.

And the billing zip code?

The billing zip code.

Okay, Judy,
I'm gonna ask you

to step on the sidewalk
while I put it on the stool.

That way we don't inadvertently
dance with each other.

- Thank you so much.
- Okay, thank you.

Would you like
a bag for that?

- It's a nice procedure.
- Thank you.

- Mike!
- Yes.

Hi.
[laughing]

I need some...
legal pads.

Legal pads.
The yellow pad.

Yep, 8 1/2 by 11?

- Yeah.
- Or long...

- No, yeah.
- Eight and a half by 11.

Like three of them.
Thank you.

You know, if I stop
to think about...

uh... finances...

or the future,
when we're not gonna

want to have the door open,
when it's gonna--

when it's gonna be dark
at 4:00 in the afternoon,

I... my mind stops.

I can't, um...
can't imagine.

[soft guitar]

- Hi.
- Hi.

Give me a... mystery,

some light reading
for the summer.

Even in a paperback,
that's okay with me.

How about you?

Uh, I came up
with my books, thank you.

- Oh!
- I did.

A lot you care about me.

Actually, I do.

[man] Something,
I don't care if it was

on the bestseller list.
Something you like.

Let's see.

Let's see.
What can we get this guy?

"The Black-Eyed Blonde."

Oh, I think
I used to date her.

Okay, how much?

It's credit card only,
I'll tell you in a minute.

- Credit card only.
- Credit card only.

No, no, no, no.

I need you
to read it to me.

I'm taking my mask off,

but the glass should be
good protection.

[reciting digits]

Get outta here.
Back up.

[muffled chatter]

Ah... no, no, no.

I'm going to put it
on that stool over there.

- And Norman?
- Yes.

- I want you to tie your shoe.
- Good idea.

Yeah, well,
I just stepped on a lace now.

Matt, The Bookloft
in Great Barrington closed?

- It closed?
- Yeah, oh, you didn't know?

No, no, they moved.

- Oh, where did they move to?
- They're on State Road.

I'm on credit hold
with Simon & Schuster

because I owe 'em
too much money.

I don't have enough money
to pay 'em

right now.

Peter, this is Matt.
Peter, I just sent an order

into Taylor
& Francis yesterday,

but I have an old--
I have four old invoices

that I wanted to pay.

And I wanted
to make sure that...

that you would let
the order go through.

I'm going to send you
a check for...

I have it right here
on the other desk.

So, I'm up a tree?

Do I... sacrifice everything

and... pay
Simon & Schuster $3600

so I can buy one book
for this person?

I'm going to hold off on that.

Just because I need
to pay other people too.

"All the Colors."

Two copies.
"All the Colors We Are."

How-- whoa!

"Union."
Two copies at $28.

What is "Union?"
A democrat and republican

search for common ground.

[phone ringing]

Hello, Bookstore.
There you are.

It's... this all melds
into psychology.

Or does it?

Another one.

"I am discontented.

I want something
I do not have.

There must be more to life
than having everything.

In the middle of the night,
she packed everything

into a black leather bag
with gold buckles

and looked out
of her favorite window

for the last time.
'You have everything,'

said the potted plant
that happened to be

looking out
of the same window.

'If you do,'
said the small pig,

'don't call us,
we'll call you.'

And he vanished so quickly,
Jenny just had time

to snatch the last sandwich.

It was salami, her favorite."

[soft guitar]

I hope your day is
as awesome as you look.

- Ah...
- [laughing]

Then she said,
"Wait a minute. I got it."

It's... a cross

between Jimmy Buffett
and Willie Nelson.

[laughing]

- And there it is.
- There it is.

I don't want
to turn your attention,

but there's a beautiful woman
standing at the door.

Ah, Tamara.

- Okay, see you later.
- Tamara?

I'll see you... Tamara.

[laughing]

One of the pleasures
of my life

is to turn around
and see a woman

hold something up
and have her put

her thumb up and say yes.

- [laughing]
- You know,

- if this was my life?
- Yeah, simple pleasures.

[laughing]

"My heart being hungry
feeds on food,

the fat of... heart despised.

Beauty where
beauty never stood.

And sweet
where no sweet lies.

- I gather to my..."
- [phone ringing]

"...querulous needs, having
a growing heart to feed."

[phone ringing]

Hello, Bookstore.

Can't come in.
Can't come in.

I'm not-- I'm not
letting browsers in.

You can browse
through the window

or on... the website
and choose a book.

Or, if you know a book...

Okay, Suzanne.
I will wrap up the other one

and send it to Cheryl...

- Perfect.
- ...tomorrow, it will go out

maybe tomorrow
or the next day.

- Okay, that's fine.
- Okay?

That's fine, okay.

So you know
what I always do?

I go in...
because I park

in the Loeb's
parking lot...

You feel like you have
to go to Loeb's, right?

So I bought coleslaw.
Would you like it?

- Oh...
- There's a little container

- of coleslaw for you.
- Oh... [laughing]

So I go in there first
and come out.

- You're sweet.
- Okay.

- Thank you.
- So...

So, should I take that?

Because don't
I already have it?

I'll run it through
right now.

Yeah

Suzanne.

Sixteen-ninety-five...

$17, okay.

Oh, God, Matt.
If it ain't one thing,

- it's another, huh?
- It's-- yeah, yeah.

- Yeah.
- So, Saturday.

Saturday, I was here.

Eight customers, you said?

Eight customers.
I told you already.

- [laughing]
- Yeah.

That's a record, isn't it?

- For July, yeah.
- For July.

You know, we had--
the total take of the day

was approximately

what one good customer
would have done.

[laughing]

- Ay-yi-yi.
- So, I assume

that's for all
of the stores around?

Well, I don't know.

- Because I'm not open.
- Yeah.

And I'm the only store
that's not open.

- Really?
- I think everybody else

is open.

"I was entirely happy.

Perhaps we feel like that
when we die...

and become a part
of something entire.

Whether it is
the sun and air,

or goodness and knowledge.

At any rate,
that is happiness.

That is happiness.
To be dissolved

into something
complete and great."

Carol's idea was--
is that-- is that

you would be doing
the introductions,

but I would
introduce the program.

I mean, I would introduce:

"Here's what we have,
and now here's Colin,

who's gonna introduce
Sarah Chase."

- Yes.
- Something like that.

Does Carol know
how to do this?

- Carol knows how to do this.
- Well, then,

she can show me
how to do it, right?

- Yeah, yeah, yeah...
- Okay, if somebody shows me,

it's probably
quite simple, right?

So, um... so...
then what you can do.

One of the first steps
for you to do,

is to get back in touch
with all of our authors

that we... postponed
all this... past year,

and say,
"Would you be interested

in-- in doing
a Zoom talk?"

There's a thing
in the light of this.

Yeah.

All right,
I got it now, yeah.

So put that in.

So, where is this?
Where am I right now?

What is that thing
that you just put a name in?

This is...
the Bookshop...

- Zoom?
- No, this is Bookshop.org.

- All right.
- So this is Bookshop.org.

I just need
to have somebody...

I don't know anything
about the technology.

- Right, right.
- I absolutely need somebody

who's, like,
done it before

and at least knows everything
about how to do it.

And as long as
I'm instructed on it...

- Right, yeah.
- ...I'll do it.

- Thank you, man.
- Okay, see you later.

Hello, Bookstore.

On a blind date,
I was driving to her house.

And I was reading...

I was listening
to Siobhán McKenna

recite Molly's...
Molly Bloom's soliloquy

from James Joyce's "Ulysses."

And I got almost
to the woman's house,

and I wasn't quite finished
with Molly Bloom.

And I thought,
Molly Bloom is

much better than
this date is going to be.

[laughing]

"Brown Girl Dreaming,"
we should always have.

"The Underground Railroad,"
we have.

"The Rules of Civility,"
we have one,

we should get
another one of that.

And it says the came in?

Do you have...
the invoice information?

Isn't there some way to just
download all of your invoices?

There is conceivably
a much better way

to run a business

than the way I do.
[laughing]

That's not necessarily
what I was suggesting.

No, I understand.

Isn't there
a better way to...

[laughing]
...to do what you're doing?

You know, who is a bookseller?

I'm not an antiquarian
bookseller.

I am not...
an independent bookseller.

I'm not, like,
an independent--

like-- like the independent
bookstores that you see.

And this independent
bookstore is doing well,

and they have...

watered-down inventory.

And it's... a community...

thank you...

notecards and--
and coffee...

or you know...
and I...

I'm just some sort of hybrid

that I don't--
I don't know that

because I am not
a businessman.

Because I was...

I've always been doing it
by-- by the seat of my pants,

that, um...

so I'm-- I'm like
the old guy...

the old guy
shuffling along.

"Oh, I have
this Schopenhauer for you.

I've been waiting 12 years
for you to walk in."

Uh, I'm... half that guy

and, um...

um...

and half a contemporary
bookseller.

- People might like that.
- All right.

Oh, whoops.
Not anymore.

William Shirer's...
"Berlin Diaries."

Oh, wow.

Inscribed to his wife.

"To Tess. Endlich.

off..." something--
I can't read the German.

"It brings back
our golden days.

Love, Bill.
December, 1951."

Wow, you have
a bunch of...

of German books by...

Anais Nin.

- Anais Nin, yeah.
- Anais Nin.

Yeah, I got those
from her agent.

Oh, yeah?

- Yeah.
- Whoops.

Um, sorry about all that.

So-- So here are
a lot of the... psychology.

- Yeah.
- Yeah, and these I got,

"The Psychoanalytical Studies
of a Child."

I got these from somebody
who must have been so...

cackling to himself.

Why would I want
to buy these shit--

And I thought they were cool.

And I've never even
put them out for sale.

I just-- I just was
buying, buying, buying.

Here's "The Summer Game"
by Roger Angell.

A guy named Charles McCarry.

- Espionage.
- Oh, okay.

He wrote
these espionage novels.

Just terrific.
They're just terrific.

I have a dream.

That I'm reading a review

of McCarry's new book.

So I wake up in the morning,
and I write him a letter.

I don't hear anything.

Six months later,
I get a postcard.

Typed.

"Dear Mr. Tannenbaum,
I never complain

when a bookseller
dreams of my work."

These are some
of my favorite books.

- "Lucky Bastard."
- And page 71.

- Got it, page 71.
- Good.

- Have you read John Fowles?
- No.

"The Collector"
and, uh, "The Magus."

- Oh, really?
- Yeah.

"The Magus," especially.

All right,
want a bag for that?

Um, no, I think we're good.

You're good.
Thank you, okay.

Uh-uh-uh-uh, oh, no--
I blew it. I blew it.

- [woman] I'm sorry, what?
- [Matt] Four?

Oh, it's 4179...

Come on, 4179...
there we are.

On a good day in the summer,
that would be my day.

This is my week.

Are the bookshops open
in the city?

- [man] Hello, Bookstore.
- [woman] They just reopened,

- I would say...
- This is.

...a couple of weeks...

- Uh-huh.
- Very recently they opened.

- Are you in Manhattan?
- Yeah, Upper West.

Upper West.
So, Book Culture...

They closed,
they closed...

I-- They're open, right?

No, they shut--
the store shut.

[overlapping chatter]

...there was a dispute...
between the two partners.

- It was my favorite bookstore.
- No kidding.

Yes, and the Strand
just opened

an outpost
in that location.

- Oh, boy...
- Yeah.

Phew-- you ever go
to Three Lives?

- Of course!
- Okay.

When I went to law school
that's where I would go.

Right, yeah... that's just
the best bookstore in the city.

- It is. It absolutely is.
- You know...

you didn't know
the Gotham Book Mart, did you?

- I didn't.
- Okay, I used to work there

back in the '70s.

- Okay.
- So that was, you know...

a highlight.
That was a great old bookstore.

[soft guitar]

"First light.
I was set down

from the carrier's cart
at the age of three.

And there, with a sense
of bewilderment and terror,

my life in the village began."

You know, the reason I got
to the Gotham Book Mart

was because of Anais Nin.

Somebody said,
"If you like Henry Miller--"

a friend of mine said,

"If you like Henry Miller,
you should read

his friend,
Lawrence Durell.

And their friend, Anais Nin.

And the only place
that has them

in the country is
the Gotham Book Mart."

So I walked
into the Gotham Book Mart.

I was not a bookseller.
I was just fresh

out of the United States Navy,

um, and looking
for direction in my life.

And so I walked
into the Gotham Book Mart.

And I think it was
the smell of the wooden floor.

And the smell of the books...

um, that just--
that just-- hi.

That just did me in.
Welcome.

When I think
of the Gotham...

I think that's how it was a...

among all the other things
that it is and was,

it was a, um...

the last of...
the old-time bookstores.

The Gotham Book Mart was
started by Frances Steloff.

A woman in...

she opened it
on January 1st, 1920.

And she... had been
working in books

and department stores
before that.

She was an orphan girl
from Saratoga

and had made her way
to New York.

And now in the late '60s,

early '70s,
by the time I got there,

she was the most famous
bookseller in America.

And she had sold her shop,

but she-- but she still
owned the building.

And she lived upstairs.

And she still came
into work every day.

And I would sit
literally at her knee.

She had a little alcove.

And... so outside was
all of this literature.

Fiction.
All this poetry.

Great poetry.
Film. Theater.

Great stuff, 'cause,
the reason she started

on 52nd Street was...
it was the theater district.

Martha Graham used to come in
and hold her finger,

so Frances could tie
the bow on a gift,

on, you know, a book
that they were gift-wrapping

like... the early,
you know, Christmas days.

Anyway, Frances is, like,
this famous person.

And-- but she didn't
read books.

She had her finger
on the pulse,

but she didn't read books,
and her alcove,

which was probably about
the size of this area here,

where it was
just all the...

um, philosophy
and religion books.

And she was greatly interested
in Eastern religion.

So this was the '60s,
this was the early '70s.

And I'm, like,
the hippie on the staff.

Right? I got...
glazy eyes and, um...

I handled the stock.
So I really learned,

like a young child...

learns through
his or her limbs,

I learned my trade viscerally.

And the shelves in the back

were so deep that
books were double-shelved.

I had to really get
the alphabet down.

You know, somewhere between,

after G-H-I-J-K-M-Mc-Mac...

um, it got confusing to a--
to a young stoner.

I had to deliver
a manuscript

to the people at Scribner's.

And I walked up those stairs
to the Scribner's publishers,

thinking, you know, Fitzgerald
walked up these stairs.

Hemingway walked up
these stairs.

One of my later
favorite writers,

Marjorie Rawlings,
walked up these stairs.

Thomas Wolfe walked up
these stairs.

Edith Wharton, eh...

she probably sat
outside in the car,

and her chauffeur walked up
the stairs.

I don't know...
that's what I want to think.

[soft guitar]

Look at the smile on that guy's
face, he found a book.

First page.

It's as if someone had
discovered a new manuscript

- by the fourth Bronte.
- Mmm.

- Sophie got mad at me.
- Sophie got mad at you?

She was like, "Stop telling
people you're grumpy."

- I'm like, "Well, I am!"
- [laughing]

They keep asking how I am,
I'm grumpy or cranky.

- Cranky.
- Yeah, grumpy,

cranky, this is--
this is, like,

uh, standard
operating procedure.

- I know.
- I'm thinking,

we should get
some of Alice's stuff up.

That we still have.

Um, Alice Brock.
From "Alice's Restaurant."

Alice had--
had this small, little café.

Like three tables
and a counter.

This guy, David,
David Silverstein,

was a guy from the Bronx
who had friends

who... he had friends
who invited him up.

They ran a café at the
Berkshire Theatre Festival.

And Alice was hiring.

And they became friends.

He started The Bookstore.

He, like Alice...
were not appreciated

by the town fathers
of Stockbridge.

Right? So Alice moved
up to Housatonic.

And David moved to Lenox.

And first he went
to a place on Franklin Street.

And then he went to the corner
where Shots Café is now.

- Okay.
- And then he came here.

Around early '70s.

'73, '74 or so.

And then, in '76,
he sold it to me.

I bought The Bookstore
ten days before I turned 30.

And then--
and I've had it ever since.

And-- but it started
with Alice.

And Arlo.
We never see Arlo.

So Arlo and Alice
got together

for the first time
ever since those days,

since... the days
of the record.

When Alice had a book called,
"How to Massage Your Cat."

- Do you have cats?
- No.

Do you hate cats?

Alice wrote a book called
"How to Massage Your Cat."

And here's a poster

that her dad made
from her illustrations.

How did you just happen
to have that right there?

[laughing]
This is so strange.

Why did you just...

what, did you know
I was going to come in,

and you were gonna be
telling me this story today?

This is...

this is my little
play area right here.

And these are my props.

Walking in the door,
you automatically...

Yes, yeah...
okay, so you got some

little, you know,

- holiday stories.
- Exactly.

- Exactly.
- Local lore.

You better take your vitamins.

[laughing]
Thank you.

Do you want anything
gift-wrapped?

No, thank you.
I don't need a receipt.

- Thank you very much.
- Yeah, yeah.

- Happy New Year.
- There will be a new baby

- in The Bookstore.
- That'll be fabulous.

- Fab-u-lous.
- All right, tell Charlie.

- Yup.
- Okay, thanks, Barbara.

Root for the good guys.

I said they're...
you know...

they're doing
a children's book.

She said, "Oh, I just wrote
a children's book."

So I thought to myself,
oh, that's how I know her.

I must have just met her
at that book fair

last week in Providence.

So I leaned over and I said,
"What's your name?"

And she said, "Carly Simon."

[laughter]

I think there's
a special visitor coming.

And it's you.

- I brought you a salad.
- Oh, sweet.

It's not Italian dressing.
I'm so sorry.

I didn't have time to make it.

Go, go, go.
Go, go, go.

- All right, take that.
- Okay, let's go

heat up some...
some brisket.

Oh, Paddington has to eat

- all by himself.
- [laughing]

That is...

just the sweetest thing.

And you can get it?

I'll try.

All right.
And the other one?

- Is that--
- I'll try.

Okay, great.

[laughing]

- All right.
- Okay.

You've made my day
by buying this book.

Oh, I'm so excited.

I'm going to read it
to my daughter.

- You read it to her.
- And we'll come in

- and tell you.
- Okay, okay.

[whistle blowing]

RX, $29.75.

And wrap it?

Lewis.
Lewis, who?

- We come up every year.
- Yeah, yeah.

You're a rare breed.

You ought to be
stuffed and mounted.

- I think it's wonderful.
- And--

I love this kind of shop.

And I thought to myself...

suddenly,
I had this image

of Len Riggio,

who owned Barnes & Noble
at the time,

and his study,
where he has the heads

of all the independent
booksellers,

stuffed and mounted
on his trophy wall.

[laughing]

And what are you reading now?

Uh, the one
I'm reading now is...

let's see if I have
another copy somewhere.

It's called
"The Girl with a Leica."

- "The Girl with a Leica."
- "Girl with a Leica."

And it's a great story.

Let's go down here

- to the fiction section.
- Okay.

- How have you been?
- I'm good, thank you.

I'm very good, thank you.

I... I'm going
to be a grandpa.

- You're gonna be a grandpa!
- I'm gonna be a grandpa.

Oh, that's the best.
That's the best.

That's the best.
My kids are coming today,

- and I'm so excited.
- For a young person...

for a young person
like us...

Like us,
it's hard to believe.

So, so... this is
one of the best-written books

- I've ever read.
- All right, so maybe

- I'd better buy this one.
- You should buy it.

It took me three days

- to read this book.
- Oh, my God.

My bookmark never
had a chance.

- [laughing]
- I would close it,

and I would open it
right back up.

You could sell me on anything.

These are-- These are...

so well-drawn...

portraits
of a Midwestern family.

He's a great
Midwestern writer.

I have to find-- all right,
I'm going to read these.

- No-no-no, you don't--
- No, I need to.

- It sounds delightful.
- They're so... delicious.

That sounds fabulous.
Okay, this.

And I have to read this.
Thank you so much.

Happy, healthy.
Great to see you.

- Mmm.
- Take care.

- See you again.
- I'll be back

- to discuss these.
- And send me emails also.

My email address is

- on the bookmark.
- Okay.

"And I'd grown from solitude,
blushed when I stumbled,

loved strangers
and bread and butter,

and made long trips through
the rain on my bicycle,

stared wretchedly
through lighted windows,

grinned wryly to think
how little I was understood,

and lived in a state
of raging excitement."

She was 21 years old.

- He was 31.
- Ooh.

He came to
this country illegally,

because by the time
the rest of his family

had emigrated
from Poland and...

What are we looking for?

It's okay.

- Oh, uh...
- I'll take this.

And by the time
he tried to get here,

because he was out wandering
with the Socialists,

and he came back to the house,
and there was a note

on the door that said,
"Gone to America."

So he tried
to come to America,

and-- but the quota
was in effect,

and so he signed on
with the Canadians.

- Oh.
- And-- for free passage

from Hamburg to Montreal.

Oh, wow.
Oh, my God.

So he gets to Montreal,

and he jumps off the ship.

He's not going
to Saskatchewan.

Oh, he does?
He swims to shore?

Yeah, and he--
and he finds his cousin,

who lives in Montreal.

And they-- they stole
a rowboat or something.

And they rode across
the St. Lawrence,

and he came down to New York,
and he moved in

with his parents,
who were already in Brooklyn.

- Wow, great.
- He met my mother

at a high school dance.

He went there,
and she had a date.

And he said,
"I'll take you home."

- He swept her...
- He swept her off her feet.

There are two types
of... of novels.

One that you sit
at home and write.

And one that you tell
other people about

- sitting at a bar.
- Just-- right.

And this is...
I'm just sitting at a bar.

I've been sitting at a bar
for 43 years.

[soft piano]

So, so the other thing
he said was,

if you have
two different editions

of a book...

Like "Joy of Cooking"
was out in a little

mass market paperback,
and then it was out

- in a larger spiral bound.
- That's the one I have.

They had an edition
with spiral bound for a while.

So he said, you know, "Always
get the more expensive one.

You make more money off that."

- Mm-hmm.
- And Rita,

who worked here.
Remember Rita?

- No, I don't remember Rita.
- No, she was

one of my first employees.

She stood up,

stamped her feet,
and she said,

"If Francine Derry
comes in here

looking for
'The Joy of Cooking,'

I don't want to have
to sell her

- a more expensive one."
- A more expensive one.

"She's the one
I buy my underwear from,

and I'm not gonna try

to make
any extra money off her."

And I'll always remember
that that's--

that you don't
just try to make money.

- Yes, yeah.
- And-- And look at me.

I've been
a poor bookseller

all my life.
[laughing]

I tried not to make any money.

[laughing]

But you'll make
some right now because...

- Oh, yeah?
- ...you've got a customer.

Oh, somebody's right there.

- To give you money.
- Okay.

So were the kids all here
this Christmas?

- My kids?
- Yeah.

Yeah, but I'm furious
at my daughter.

- You're furious?
- Yeah.

Don't forget
your bag this time.

- Okay, I won't.
- Okay.

But if I make something nice,

'cause Sam's gonna
come tomorrow,

do you like scallops?

Uh, I do.

- Okay.
- All right.

We'll make some for you too.

All right.

Jim!

I have books here.

- Oh!
- That I...

- [dinging bell]
- ...got a call for

about two months ago.

Maybe I don't.

I remember you ordering
a couple of books.

[man] Do you want me
to pick you up three?

It was a Steve Hamilton book.

And a...

Yes, it was Steve Hamilton.

And Eisler.

- Barry Eisler.
- Barry Eisler?

Maybe like
the pharmaceuticals,

you know, CVS.

You don't pick it up
in two weeks,

they put it
back on the shelf.

I'm gonna look
on my shelf at home.

And see if--
maybe I picked it up.

- I think you might have.
- Bye, Jim.

- I think you might have.
- You think so?

I don't know.
It's all a blur.

Another successful transaction.

[laughing]

He came in,
and he bought it on the 10th.

He must have really
enjoyed the books.

[soft guitar]

"Over the snow,
my creaking feet,

"disturbed the slumbering
village street.

"By profanation
by your leave,

at 10 o'clock
of a winter eve."

I mean, it's fine,
just like...

- Yeah, right.
- But now she has to...

Both places, right.

Pretty-- Pretty cool.

All over--
All over town.

The word is--
the word's getting out.

So-- So,
Tom Stoppard comes in,

and... and he--

he compliments me
on the shop because--

because he found a book that
he didn't think he'd find.

He said, "I like the fact
that you have your...

your biographies
next to your authors."

So there's
a biography of Hemingway

- next to Hemingway's work.
- Oh, really?

So, I said-- I said,
well, I learned...

I learned my trade
at the Gotham Book Mart.

And he said, "Oh...

we shall never see
the likes of that again."

In his deep,
sonorous voice.

Which was my cue to give him

my copy...
a copy of my book,

"My Life
at the Gotham Book Mart."

- Yes, yeah.
- And he looked at it,

and he said,
"May I purchase this?"

I said, certainly.
But you know what,

last night
I found a book for you.

- Yeah?
- On my shelf

that I'm gonna give to you
for your birthday.

- Okay.
- The truth is,

whatever I've learned
in my life...

comes mostly from...

the characters who I've read,

who I've absorbed,
who I relate to,

are the fictional characters.

Fiction is the filter
through which

I see the world.

So, um...

So, I don't... run away
from the world...

Um...

How do you get outta here?

[laughing]

Don't drink that.

Here, let me have
some of that.

It's very... jelly.

Really?

I think you're gonna like
what I have better.

- [phone ringing]
- Hello, Bookstore.

Hi, this is the Carol Robbins
auxiliary department.

How can we...
help you, sir? Ma'am?

Hello. Hello?

Is there anyone there?
Is there anyone there?

Is there anyone there?

Carol, are you there?

[laughing]

Carol?

Mrs. Antrobus.

Becky Thatcher.

[woman] Matt,
can we add two things?

- Sure.
- Okay.

Can we add
a manly bread book?

- The-- which one?
- A breadmaking book

that a guy who's just
getting into making bread

- is gonna like.
- Huh. Okay.

"In main lesson today,
we learned

of the mighty conquest
of the great greenness,

lord of all living things.

How all things come and go.

How love shines
from our brow

if we have
died at least once.

And are courageous
as dragonflies.

And that is the only solution
to a world gone mad."

[whispering]
One-three-nine-two...

six-four-three-two...
seven-six-nine-one.

Um... I want
the Mary Trump book.

- Uh-huh.
- But I wanted to look

and see what else
you had, so...

I should have brought
the paper with me.

- What?
- The Times.

- The bestsellers.
- Oh.

Let me go get you
a Times from last week.

Okay, okay.

[sighing]

"In science,
extra main lesson today,

we learned how vivid,
abundant,

and wild blossoming is
in the highest places.

How we sit around
a pond of knowledge,

how we notice
at the edge of that pond,

a shimmering chrysalis.

How slowly, steadily,
the chrysalis molts,

unfolds to recognition.

How the young
dragonfly emerges,

teeters on a blade of grass
testing its wings.

How bravely, clumsily,
it tries to lift off.

Often falling back,
but finally,

finally, finally
into the meadow."

- Hi.
- Hi.

The world's oldest
and newest bookseller.

Two weeks ago, I looked
at my bank statement.

I looked at... what I have,
what the registers says

that I have, and what...

bills were coming due
at the end of the month.

That was two weeks ago.

I'm aware of...
of the...

the place that
The Bookstore and I are in.

It's a big love.

Well...

everything is informed by...

kindness, patience,
generosity.

I mean,
he's got time for it all.

He's got time for everyone.

Like, truly.

That's been my experience.

And it's been--
my favorite thing to do is

to come in here
very anonymously

and just walk
in the front door

and sit in
one of the pink chairs

and watch
his interaction with people

here at the front desk.

Because he knows
what the right thing to do is

for The Bookstore.
It's always... it's in him.

Because I... sort of
delude myself,

and I'm like...
everything's great.

Um... when I realized
that he was serious about this,

I asked him,
"Is this... this is it?"

Because I didn't know that--
that it was gonna be,

"Save The Bookstore."

I didn't--
maybe I didn't realize,

maybe I've been so preoccupied
with my own stuff,

but, I said, like,

"That's... that's
what this is?"

And he was kind of like,
"You know, yeah."

"Let him receive the season's
increment into his mind.

Let him work it
into the soil.

The finest growth
that farmland can produce

is a careful farmer.

Make the race a better head.

Make the world
a better piece of ground."

- Save The Bookstore.
- Save the--

That's what I meant,
oldest and newest.

Okay.
Save The Bookstore.

Save our ship.

Save our--
save our bookstore.

- S.O.B.
- S.O.B.

[Matt laughing]

Let's try this.

"Hello, Bookstore
fans and friends.

Hello, Bookstore friends,
near and far.

Wondering
how things are going

at The Bookstore
during the pandemic?

They're not going well,
my friends.

Business is down.

Sales each week are
what they used to be each day.

The book you may not have
known but fell in love with.

The glass of wine
at Get Lit.

The poetry reading
or book signing event

that reminds you
of the large presence

in your life that is
this small shop

on Housatonic Street.

In the old days,
I might have sold books

to your parents
or grandparents.

Today, I'm selling them
curbside to you,

to your children,
and your grandchildren,

until we can safely
open our doors again,

and I just don't know
when that will be.

I most humbly ask you
to help me get through.

It's yours
as much as it is mine.

None of us would even
want to imagine it

no longer being here.

When I think
of the many roads

I took to become your
bookseller here in Lenox,

I cannot imagine
who or what else

I might have become.

It has always felt to me
a perfect fit,

and to judge from the loyalty
you have shown

through the years,
you think so too.

With that in mind,
I am appealing today

for your help.

Thanks for reading.

Be well. Be safe.

Matt Tannenbaum."

[Matt] Did you hear
my knock-knock joke?

The guy who invented
the knock-knock joke

won the "No-Bell."

[laughter]

All right.
Merry Christmas.

Happy New Year.
Happy Chanukah.

Happy, whatever, Kwanzaa.

And it really--
it goes down.

You can feel it going...

- duh-duh-duh...
- [laughter]

Go down quicker.
Go down quicker!

- Oh, is it stuck?
- No, it's not stuck,

- it's just...
- It's so lovely.

It's warming.
I love this stuff.

Yes-- that's what
I mean, yeah...

It tastes like...

Why, did you decide
not to like it?

- Like mulled cider.
- Like mulled cider.

- All right, fine.
- Oh, you didn't--

[hiccup]

- [hiccupping]
- Charlie wanted some.

[hiccupping]
"Charlie the Tramp."

- "Incroyable."
- "Incroyable."

- [laughter]
- Sophie's--

- Sophie's new favorite word.
- Oh, is it?

I've been refusing
to say it correctly.

[laughing]

Go ahead,
how did you used to say it?

- I'll tell you later.
- "Incroyable."

- "Incroyable."
- "Incroyable."

"Incroyable."
L'chaim.

- L'chaim.
- L'chaim. L'chaim.

[Matt] L'chaim.
"Incroyable."

Ah, that goes down
really hard.

He said to me, he said,
"I want to tell you a story."

He said, "When I was
a little boy,

I grew up in Santa Fe,
New Mexico.

And my dad, one day,
when I was a little kid,

says, 'Otto, there's somebody
I'd like you to meet.

It's time you should
meet this guy.'

And he took me
to the old part of town,

and there's an old,
wooden sidewalk,

and there's an old man
leaning a chair up

against the... wall.

And-- And my father
introduced me.

He said, 'Otto, I want you
to meet Sheriff Pat Garrett.'"

And as he said this to me,
he held out his hand,

as if to say,
"Shake the hand

that shook the hand of the man
who shot Billy the Kid."

Pat Garrett died years
before Otto was born.

[laughing]

What was--
what was that about?

[soft guitar]

[soft guitar continues]

[soft guitar continues]

I wish that
I'd grown up in this town.

And then I became
the guy that, um,

other people see
when they grow up.

[sighing]
Hmm.

[soft guitar]

[soft guitar continues]

[reporter] The pandemic is
taking a toll on many

local business owners,

and Matt Tannenbaum is
no exception.

When I looked at
the bank account, I said,

"Oh, oh, we're not
gonna make it."

And once I realized
we're not gonna make it,

I thought,
"Well, that's...

I can't imagine
not making it."

[reporter] The owner
of The Bookstore in Lenox

started a GoFundMe to save
his store earlier this week,

and in just
a couple of days,

it's already raised
more than $60,000.

I kid around. I always
wanted to be a writer.

But I guess thank you notes
are what I'm gonna be writing.

August-- well, August 12th,

it says 550 donors have
answered the call.

- Is that still true?
- Let's look.

You were
on a death watch here.

- Weren't you?
- Yeah.

Look what they do for me.

They-- immediately.

Within 23 hours,
we met that goal.

And then it just
kept climbing.

And then when people said,
"Well, you know...

raise your goal.
Keep going."

You-- as I said
in my latest Instagram,

uh, that
they helped me produce,

the wolf is...
no longer at the door.

- Yeah.
- But he's still in the woods.

- Right.
- And, you know, this way,

I'm gonna be able
to get out of debt.

- Right.
- I'm gonna be able

to get out of debt,
and I'll be able...

to say to the publisher,
I'll say, listen,

I'm sending you that money
that I owe you, on time.

Sure, there's this image,
and then there's reality.

And I'm wondering
how the image and the reality

are the same,

and how they're
completely different?

- I think they're the same.
- You do?

- I absolutely...
- So I have this image

of this guy who's in love
with literature

and can talk to customers
about Shakespeare

and, you know,
William Shirer,

- is that right?
- Yeah.

And for me to have the...

the good fortune

to spend my life
with these things.

- [camera snap]
- You're living the dream.

I'm living the dream.
I have a country bookstore.

My-- My wife...

passed away
after 11 years.

Uh, and then I had...
part of the dream.

- After 11 years of marriage?
- After 11 years of marriage.

- So I was-- my--
- Did she enjoy running

- The Bookstore?
- Ah, no.

- [laughing]
- No... that was not her.

- That was not her
- That was your thing.

That was my thing.
Absolutely.

But then I was--
I had two little children,

seven and three years old
to raise.

And then that's when
this woman, Jo Baldwin,

who had worked for me
for years before,

was... most important to me.

So I could go home
every day at 2:00, 2:30,

to meet the kids
after school.

Take the kids home. Bring them
to school in the morning.

And became the mom.

And that was... just
the most incredible thing.

That was... wild.

But then...

and then they grew up
in the store.

And they grew up
knowing about books.

And... that's why

Shawnee,
you know, wants...

knows how important
the store is to me

and wants it to continue.

- Mm-hmm.
- So, you know, 'cause,

when you think about it,
who do we sell it to?

Do we sell it to anybody?
Who would... who...

First of all,
off the record now.

- Yeah.
- Who--

I'm gonna go over
everything with you.

Who would...

spend all of the hours

that I spend

for the little pay that I get?

Why would that be
off the record?

Okay, fine.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

- I mean...
- Well, because my...

the off the record part
would be, when my accountant--

when I said
to my accountant, I said,

if I want to sell the store,
what's it worth?

He said, nothing.
Because-- Because--

Because he was not a reader.

I am going to recite to you
the last paragraph

on page 96,
which is how I sell this book.

"While the moon smoothly
shifted the shadows

from one side
of Edgewood to the other,

Daily Alice dreamed she stood
in a flower starred field,

where there grew
an oak tree and thorn

in deep embrace,
their branches intertwined

- like fingers."
- Oh, my God.

"Far down the hall,
Sophie dreamed"--

And this is how Sophie got
named-- my daughter

- Sophie got named.
- Really?

"Far down the hall,
Sophie dreamed there was

a tiny door in her elbow,
open a crack

through which
the wind blew,

- blowing on her heart..."
- Oh, my God.

- So...
- Let me take--

I'm gonna take a picture
of that 'cause I wanna

- recite it...
- [Matt laughing]

- Patrick Leigh Fermor.
- Oh, really?

Travel writer,
18 years old.

Walked between...
18 years old,

December, 1934,

took a ferry
from London to Rotterdam

and then walked
to Constantinople.

- Is that right?
- He didn't quite make it

because, you know,
halfway across,

he fell in love,
like you would have too,

with a Romanian princess

and lived with her
for the next six years.

Books on Buddhism.

On religion
in general. Islam.

There's the Classical,
Ancient World.

In the days of the Gotham,

there was a young woman
who used to come visit me--

not me-- but would come
visit the bookstore.

And we would hang out
and talk about Arthur Rimbaud.

- Oh.
- She loved Arthur Rimbaud.

And one day
she gave me three copies

of this broadside
that she wrote.

Do you know who wrote--
you know who this is?

- Is it Einstein?
- No, this is...

a drawing of the French poet
Rimbaud by Patti Smith.

- Oh, really?
- This-- Patti Smith

- gave me this.
- Holy shit.

See the flying books?

Oh, Jesus.
What is that?

A book comes flying
out the window.

The second-floor window--
it lands in the street.

I jump in the street
like this.

I'm a professional bookman.
I'll handle this.

- [laughing]
- I kick it over.

And the title is...

as I say to the crowd
that assembles,

"Just as I assumed,
a self-help book."

[laughing]

Six pairs of pants?
No Jew.

One pair of pants.

Six pairs of--
two pairs of boots?

Listen, little Jew.
You won't have time

to wear out one.

And Jan Wiener says
to himself,

"I'll come back
after this is over,

and I'll kill this man."
He gets to Yugoslavia.

He and his father apply
for... a visa to England.

Nothing happens.
The Germans invade Yugoslavia

in April of 1940.

They start going-- running
from village to village.

One night,
his father says--

They had dinner.
He was dressed for dinner.

You would dress for dinner.

But they played chess
before dinner.

He sits down with his father,
his father takes a pawn

and knocks it over.

And Jan looks at him
and says, "What?"

He says,
"Tonight, I kill myself

because they come
for us soon,

and this is
my only freedom."

My-- He was
a medical importer.

He had--
"I have poison.

My wife took hers already.

I have mine,
I have for you too."

- Oh, my God.
- Jan says--

He's 20 years old now,
Jan says...

he looks out the window.
He tells me this.

He says it was
a beautiful spring day.

He says, "Father,
I choose to live."

He escaped.
He got to Italy.

He got under the belly...

underneath the train
to ride from Trieste

to... he was trying
to get to France,

and he was captured
in Genoa.

Thrown in a prisoner
of war camp. Escaped twice.

Eventually the Allies came
up the boot, he was freed,

and he joined
the British wing of--

the Czech wing
of the RAF.

And he ended the war
as a bombardier over...

over Hamburg.

- Wow.
- [laughter]

He was a rascal,
just a great guy.

So now he's in Prague.

It's 2009,
and he has a stroke.

And he's 89 years old.

And I know
he's not coming home.

So I go to visit him.

And then
we'd stop at a café

to have a drink
before we'd go home.

And so I came back
and I said,

I'm going to make a wine bar
for Jan Wiener.

And that's why
we're sitting here today.

[laughing]

I feel pressure to do
this place justice.

[soft guitar]

[soft chatter]

[sighing]

Did you know
everybody loves you?

- Yeah.
- That was pretty awesome.

- Very, very.
- Not even 24 hours.

No, yeah, yeah,
I mean... I mean,

- why wait a whole 24 hours?
- Right?

You know, who... has
the time to wait 24 hours?

Do you want me
to pay for my books?

Yeah, you want...
your books?

Okay.

I want to dance.

There's an envelope
on the register there

for Bob Romeo,
for the... rent.

- Oh, I saw his email.
- Yeah, okay, right.

So I wrote him back,
I said, "It's right there.

Waiting for you.

And I'll have more
for you soon.

- Because of GoFundMe."
- Yeah.

And, um, so finally
about a week ago,

he knocked
on the door and says,

"What's a fellow got to do
to get a check around here?"

[laughter]

My name is George Bailey.

- Is it?
- Yes.

And he has rose petals
right in here.

Zuzu's petals.

You know
who George Bailey was?

- Yeah.
- Richest man in town.

- He was a movie star.
- That's right.

Did I think we would
make it in one day?

No. But I wasn't
surprised when it did.

In less than 24 hours.

Yeah, it's just wild.

People can accomplish--
people can--

can make a difference in...
in a horrible time.

And that's--
I didn't count on that

being so...
so big for... everybody.

Every day's like Christmas.

And so, you know,
it's just pure gratitude.

And what a run on GoFundMe.

- What a run, huh?
- Well, you do know

how to sing
this song correctly?

- "Take me out to the..."
- ♪ Take me out

♪ To the ball game,
let me follow ♪

♪ The crowd by me

♪ Some peanuts
and crackerjacks ♪

♪ I don't care
if I never get back ♪

♪ For it's root, root, root
for the home team ♪

♪ If they don't win,
it's a shame ♪

♪ For it's one, two,
three strikes, you're out ♪

- ♪ At the old ball game
- Oh.

"God is alive.
Magic is afoot.

God is alive. Magic is afoot.
God is afoot.

Magic is alive.
Alive is afoot.

Magic never died..."

We reached it
in just about 23 hours.

That's astonishing, Matt.

So this is what we'll be able
to have me survive.

Get a little bit out of debt.

"For he today who sheds
his blood with me

shall be my brother;
be he ne'er so vile,

This day shall gentle
his condition;

And gentlemen
in England now abed

Shall think themselves

accursed and hold
their manhoods cheap

while any speaks with us

who fought... with us
on Saint Crispin's Day."

[laughing]

[woman] I thank you
for being

- such a kind human being.
- Thank you.

And for giving us all
faith in this world

in little ways.

My dad died
when I was very young.

But when I was
three years old,

I was... marching through
the living room one day.

And my dad said to me,
"Where are you going?"

"Where are you going?"
And I said,

"I'm gonna go outside,
and I'm gonna smile at people,

and they're gonna
be my friends."

And I've been doing that...
[laughing]

Mm-hmm, exactly.

It's like...
the poem about music

that I've been
learning lately.

"Music.
You know what music is?

It's everywhere.
It's in the air.

We, and everything else,
are instruments."

Is that your grandpa?

Want to go see him?

Want to go see Grandpa?

Come here, you.
[gasping]

Hi.

- [babbling]
- Yah!

Yah! Yah!

I got ya!
[laughing]

Are you--
are you a southpaw?

Are you-- Are you trying to
throw for the third base side?

No, the first base side.

- You have a customer.
- Okay.

You come over here with me,

and we'll greet
the customers together.

You can have anything in
the store except for the baby.

I have to go write
some gift certificates now.

But I think I'll wait.

I think... it's more fun
to hang out with you.

Have you been reading
any new books?

Or do you keep
reading the same old book?

You know--
You know who was...

also a little baby when--
when she came in this store?

Your mama.

She was this age too
when she came in the store.

And your Aunt Sophie.

Yeah, they were all--

They were both
really little,

just like you are now.

Yes. Yes.

[voice] To place an order,
please call.

Or ask me!

Or walk away from me.

Hi, you know
anything you'd like?

Yes. She'd like
"The Vanishing Half."

Okay.

- One.
- One copy.

We're gonna
sell a book now!

[soft guitar]

The result for me is
that I'm going to be able

to stay in business.

And the result
for the customers who gave

and the friends
and the... clients

and the...

community...
who gave is that

they get to be a part
of saving what they love.

How often do you get
a chance to do that?

- Thank you so much.
- From the second we donated,

and we've been checking
all the time.

- Thank you, thank you.
- We're just so heartened

- for you.
- Okay, I appreciate it.

- Thank you, thank you.
- It's going to allow you

- to last.
- Yeah, I'm gonna...

now I have to stay here.

Thanks a lot.
Now I gotta keep working.

- [laughing]
- I-- I--

- Well, we're happy.
- Okay, thank you.

- Blessings.
- Thank you.

- Hi, hi, honey.
- Hi, I'll see you soon.

Marian, yeah.

You don't have a copy
of Muriel Barbery,

"The Elegance
of a Hedgehog," do you?

Maybe.
Maybe.

Pull up and...
or circle around again,

- I'll see if I can get one.
- Okay, I'll circle.

- Okay.
- Thanks.

[phone ringing]

Hello, Bookstore.

No, you can't come in.

Not even you.
Not even you.

Thank you, okay, bye.

Before there were books...

there was the oral
tradition of stories.

"The ceaseless perishing.

What an idea.
What maniac conceived it?

And yet,
what a lovely day it is today.

A gift of a day.

A perfect day,
lacking nothing."

[laughing]

And that's what a...

So I'm... just the place

where that...
can happen for people.

I'm just that place, and...

and it's a... pleasure.

And a privilege.

It was a busy
Saturday afternoon

late in August.

And a guy
who I don't know...

walks up, and he stands
in front of the desk.

And he says...
"I see what you do."

And he stops.
"I see what you do."

He says, "You sit
in that chair all day long,

surrounded by the things
you love most in the world.

And all you do,
all day long,

is talk to people

about the things
you love most in the world.

And the only time
you get interrupted

is when someone wants
to give you money."

That's my life.

[soft guitar]

"Leaving
any bookstore is hard,

especially
on a day in August"--

Huh.

"--when the street outside
burns and glares,

and the books inside are
cool and crisp to the touch;

especially on a day in January,
when the wind is blowing,

the ice is treacherous,

and the books inside
seem to gather together

in colorful warmth.

It's hard to leave a bookstore
any day of the year, though,

because a bookstore is
one of the few places

where all the cantankerous,
conflicting, alluring

voices of the world

co-exist in peace and order,

and the avid reader is
as free as a person

can possibly be,
because she is free

to choose among them."

[phone ringing]

Hello, Bookstore.

[soft guitar]

And as I was running back,
I remember, I saw a moose.

The first time
I ever saw a moose,

just standing there,
like, you know,

lie, 50 yards away from me.

Just standing
majestically...

- ["phone off hook" beeping]
- Shit, did I have

somebody on the phone?

- I guess I did.
- You did?

Maybe I just didn't
hang it up, um...

I saw a moose, and...
[laughing]

...and my first thought was,

and you can edit this out:

do moose eat Jews?

[laughing]
That just came out of me.

that was just...
[laughing]

[soft guitar]

W-R-I-T-E-R.

Writer.

[laughing]

So, this...
you know what this is?

This is a writer's block.

[soft guitar]