On Books and Reading and the Literary Life in New York

"In New York City reading is one of the fun things to do--there is no other nation where reading, writing, and talking about books is commonplace. And if you are lucky--lucky to be living here in book country, or just passing through--you might find a small stack of books on a stoop, or in a box on the sidewalk waiting for you. Books someone is giving away."--bell hooks, "A Writer in the Village," Metropolis Found: New York Is Book Country's 25th Anniversary Collection (New York Is Book Country, 2003)