If we could go back in time, we would return to the 1970s, when everyone watched The Forsyte Saga on PBS, browsed The Whole Earth Catalogue, read Colette and Middlemarch, and gossiped about John Cheever sightings during his semester as a visiting professor.
My most vivid memories are of the many, many bookstores of that time, which seemed to line the streets of downtown America. Not a day went by when I didn’t browse at a bookstore.
And here is a short history of four favorite bookstores of the ‘70s.
Alandoni’s, Iowa City. This tiny bookshop was kind of a dive, located in a run-down neighborhood south of downtown. Still, its small selection of books was stunning. The owner lived in the store, which must have been trying, but at least he had money to eat on the days I shopped there. I was thrilled to buy an inexpensive vintage ‘50s Classics Club hardcover set of Dickens, which included titles that were then difficult to find, like Barnaby Rudge and Martin Chuzzlewit. I later gave away the Classics Club editions, because I thought I needed editions with notes. I wish I had held on to both!
Later, Jim Mulac, a poet, bought the bookstore and renamed it Jim’s Books. He, too, lived at the store. Jim was affable, easy to talk to, and hosted poetry readings on Friday nights. I am not sure how long his bookstore survived.
There was much indignation a few years ago when the Iowa City Council decided to tear down the building, which protesters said was a part of Iowa City’s literary history. Well, the building was a dive even in the ‘70s, so I am puzzled about their fervor. It would have been far better if the City Council had preserved .. well, read ahead and you shall learn.
Epstein’s, Iowa City. This was the iconic Iowa City bookstore in the ‘70s. The Epstein brothers were literary hipsters who socialized with local writers and hosted poetry and fiction readings, while their wives, if I recall correctly, took care of the bills, invoices, and paper work. Epstein’s had a unique hip ambiance that no subsequent Iowa City bookstores ever achieved, but, alas! urban renewal drove them out of business. One does wish the City Council had given them a rent break on the ugly temporary building they had to move into. The rent on the temporary was higher, too high for the Epstein brothers, and so a great bookstore was lost.
Caveat Emptor, Bloomington, Indiana. Located on a shady street across the street from the university campus, this bookstore occupied two connected houses – and that meant thousands of rare and used books. Johannes, who manned the desk, meticulously examined each book before he bought it, and stocked only books in excellent condition. I was grateful to find reference books and dictionaries at affordable prices – which saved me hundreds of trips to the library. The shop has been bought and sold a few times but survives in a different building downtown.
Christopher’s, Bloomington, IN. Christopher, the dashing, restless owner, strode around town in tall boots and a cloak. In memory, at least, he resembled the hero of a Regency romance. It was at his store that I discovered the Nobel-winner Sigrid Undset’s Kristin Lavransdatter, a trilogy set in medieval Norway, one of my favorite books, and a stunning analysis ofthe stages of a woman’s life.
I have no idea what happened to Christopher’s, but it is long gone.
I feel an affection for the bookstores of that time. There are, alas, so few bookstores left.
