The Last Book Store

There is magic and danger at the corner of Fifth and Spring. Yes, there is a building, and the building is a bookstore, but inside that bookstore is a comic book shop called Dungeon Dungeon. And across from that comic book shop is a used record store. And up the stairs from that used record store is a labyrinth of books. And within the labyrinth of books, you’ll find paperbacks and hardcovers for a dollar. There’s an art gallery in a hallway and a performance space in the lobby. There are doors that lead to nowhere and rooms that you’ve never noticed before. The place is a maze, and you can get blissfully lost. So you grab a few dollar books. You head back downstairs to pick up an old Madonna record. You swing by the dungeon for a few comic books. ... The magic is that three hours have passed. The danger is that you barely even noticed. You stay a little while longer.—Jill Cornelio ’04