Second-hand? Yes. Second-best? No

Sunil:

This account is fascinating. I fully agree that second-hand books are hardly second-rate.

I have been to Bombay just once in my life, when I spent about 15 hours between trains. I fondly remember visiting several places including a book-store (Smoker’s Corner?) where I purchased a paperback which I took to Hanging Gardens where I feasted on bhel-puri then spent a leisurely afternoon lying on soft green grass enjoying the paperback! Sometimes, it all feels like a dream!

In the U.S. book prices have been rising consistently, and in case of textbooks, sometimes astronomically. Like many other desis, I usually don’t buy hardcover books except when on sale. I have also found that sale events at public libraries provide some of the best opportunities for book bargain hunting. (For example, the other day, I purchased the hardcopy edition of the Complete Works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for $1. I have also been able to obtain some other really old gems which are in surprisingly good condition.) Web sites can also provide a good venue for purchasing second hand books (though you are stuck with the shipping costs).

Now if only it were possible to create more time to read all of that!

Sounds fascinating! Great article.

Something about the book scene in Bangalore. http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/mp/2003/04/21/stories/2003042101370100.htm

Bangalore has a very good selection of bookstores for new books, but the second hand book scene does not seem to be as large. As the article states, Blossom`s is a good source for popular fiction.

For the statistically inclined, I believe Calcutta is the largest market in India for general books and Bangalore is the largest market for technical books.

Oliver Todd, Albert Camus, James Joyce, Leopold von Sacher-Masoch , flora fountains of Mumbai here I come....

Dear Beejay, many thanks for the encouraging words. Nice to know that you were fortunate to experience the charm of Bombay I was talking about. Good.
Dear Sunlight, thanks for the Hindu link, and nice to remind me of Bangalore and Cal addas.
Dear Sarahhashwani, be my guest, do come to Bombay; I will give you a guided tour!

I like these stalls, too, but you haven`t seen anything till you`ve seen College Street in Kolkata. I have bought books from these stalls in Colaba-but I never saw anything approaching the finds you mention. It must take days of work to find them.

sunil:

good writeup

harish will have to help me with the bombay locations but we were sitting in an ``irani` restaurant...with his friend who reviews movies for the ToI...i mentioned an out of print book...his friend said he knew where i might find that book...looked at his watch...we had about 45 minutes to spare before catching the train...so he took me to this used book store...introduced the owner and mentioned the name of the book...without missing a beat the manager called an assisstant over and mentioned him the spot in the overflowing bookshop to look for that book...

...next visit if i have time i`d love to browse through the stores you mentioned

rgds

t