New York, New York what a hell of a town. What this means depends on who you are talking to. Me, I like the place and would live there if it was practical. It’s not but there are no prohibitions against visiting and in April the New York ABAA Fair makes it absolutely appealing. Not so long ago there were plenty of old and rare bookshops in America. These days they increasingly operate from houses, offices and garages in locations off the beaten track. To see booksellers it’s now the norm to join them at the appointed time at a booksellers’ event. The best of these events in North America is the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America show in New York in April, this year April 12th to the 15th.
This year, as in recent past years, the fair is at the Park Avenue Armory on Park at 67th. For a few days the fair absorbs the attention of the literate and literati, who between Broadway Shows, benefits and jaunts to weekend getaways, every year mark the beginning of spring with a long weekend of the intellect. The young, the almost young and the wish-I-was-young-again-s long ago found the power of good books and great literature to rejuvenate and now make the yearly sojourn to remember and be remembered, to be for a few hours in the company of a community that appreciates gifted authors and great writing, a community that yields to the gentle urge to hold a great copy of a great book that may trigger memory and secure a open synapse that until the eye set upon the book one did not know was setting unresolved for years waiting for this moment. That’s the way it is with books, best and boon companions that like our dogs, return our love unquestioned.
