Best Books: The Atlanta Book Exchange
Sunday, January 24th, 2010
By Summer Stanley.
To borrow the words of Tennessee Williams, treasured American writer, the Atlanta Book Exchange is “a world within the world.” Located across from Manuel’s Tavern, near the intersection of North and North Highland Avenues, the newer location of this Atlanta fixture boasts more space but less foot traffic than the beloved cottage in Virginia Highlands.
Admittedly there was something charming about that old location, where longtime employee, the late Jim Degnan lived as well as worked, but the perk of the new one is the cozy seating nested amongst the numerous quiet nooks. Though the community mourns the loss of Degnan, his spirit still remains memorialized alongside other black and white portraits of fellow greats hanging on the store’s esteemed walls: Henry Miller, Samuel Beckett, Sylvia Plath, and D.H. Lawrence are amongst those who keep his company.
The crux of the Atlanta Book Exchange’s allure winds within the intimate catacombs of its shelves. It’s range of used, out-of-print, as well as new books are all intriguing and classic finds. Their variety is unparalleled.
From David Cordingly’s Under the Black Flag: The Romance and Reality of Life Among the Pirates, including a chapter on “Women Pirates and Pirate’s Women,” to The Art of Queen: The Eye, the making of the CD-ROM based on and with backup music by Queen, the Atlanta Book Exchange consistently impresses with a choice assortment.
The character of this bookstore is that of a soothsayer, a seer and revealer of much, spanning thus far time and the ages, weaved through story upon story. Peruse the “Foreign Authors in Translation” section: there is Gogol. There is Borges. If you dare, available for browsing is “Molecular Biology.” “Sociology” bares Jeffrey Rosen’s Unwanted Gaze: Destruction of Privacy in America that only grows more applicable as the 21st century advances.
“Asian History,” “African History,” an entire section dedicated to Theodore Roosevelt, as well as Fidel Castro’s autobiography, My Life, can all be found in the house on North Highland Ave. next door to Buddy’s.
Comic books, arty books, nude arty books, a book of short stories entitled, The Night My Mother Met Bruce Lee: Observations On Not Fitting In, by Paisley Rekdal await. The “Self-Help” section implies a “whatever works” approach, boasting both How Alcoholics Anonymous Failed Me, by Marianne Gilliam as well as the 4th edition of Alcoholics Anonymous in its collection.
So the next time you’re at Manny’s for a beer, or stuck in traffic on North Highland Avenue, stop in and ruminate a while, because this merely grazes the surface of what the Atlanta Book Exchange means when their sign outside says “BOOKS.”
Tags: Atlanta, books, bookstore, Highland Avenue, North Avenue, Summer Stanley, Virginia Highlands
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