There’s something about bookstores that attract me, perhaps the adventure of never knowing what waits inside. Buenos Aires is full of bookstores and, downtown, on the 800 block of Esmeralda are three charming bookstores: Poema 20, Libreria Anticuaria L’Amateur, and El Libro Frances.
These booksellers all specialize in titles that you’re not likely to find elsewhere in the city. Whenever I get the chance, I try to stop by and gaze in the windows of these stores. Even when they’re closed and the iron bars are drawn down over the glass, I enjoy lingering in front of these stores, looking at the titles on display.
An interesting literary side note is that Argentine writer Alfonsina Storni once lived down the street in the beautiful building on the corner of Esmeralda and Córdoba.
Related post: last year’s antiquarian book fair.
October 25th, 2006 at 5:27 pm
[…] One of the mysteries that I love about Buenos Aires is never knowing what is behind a building’s facade. Earlier I mentioned the enchanting bookstores on Esmeralda. Between Poema 20 and El Libro Frances is the door to an apartment building that appears to have a lovely courtyard. […]
March 14th, 2007 at 7:59 am
Jeff, I share with you the pleasure of gazing at book stores and searching for tresures inside. But I definitely gave up doing it at certain book stores on Av. de Mayo, because I found that they “specialize” only on expensive books. Instead, I prefer to explore small book stores on Av. Corrientes, which are full of low-price offers where you can find real bargains if you are not interested in “first editions”, “signed issues” or “rare editions”.
On the other hand, the last time I was in BA I had the chance to know the ex-Grand Splendid book store of El Ateneo, but it was very discouraging: when I asked the clerk about certain book (specifically “La historia del Sr. Sommer” by Patrick Suskind), he made a mocking face and sentenced that such a book never existed. It immediately reminded me of the movie “Tienes un e-mail” where Tom Hanks is the owner of a very fancy book store (just like El Ateneo) but the employees are stupid people who know nothing about authors and titles.
March 14th, 2007 at 4:26 pm
Hi Ricky,
You’re exactly right about El Ateneo…I’m going to be writing a post soon about searching for a particular book and the frustration with trying to find it in BA, particularly at El Ateneo. It’s a beautiful bookstore but their selection isn’t really that great and the staff is most unhelpful.
And, you’re right, the bookstores on Corrientes are wonderful!