Episode
Fiction about bookstores and libraries
- Published
- Jul 30, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 621
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Summary
I remember when and how bookstore cafes arrived because it is part of my reading experience. They arrived in the ‘80s when the number of readers dropped drastically, acting as an invitation so that people who had never opened a book in their lives could find the perfect excuse to enter a bookstore. Sometimes, they would have a quick coffee, feeling completely out of their element, without a television or background music to entertain them. Other times, and not as often, they thought about buying a book as a gift for a loved one with whatever was trendy back then. Like someone buying clothes or checking out whatever is playing at the movies, without showing the slightest preference. For all of this, they relied on the bookseller. Every male bookseller’s dream was to set up a book club with the air of the old casinos. Every female bookseller’s dream was to set up a book club where no man could enter, unless he was trans and promised to remain mute. I was lucky enough to meet a straight couple—everything has to be labeled now—both inveterate readers, who set up a bookstore in the late ‘80s in the Eixample of Barcelona, almost reaching the upper part of Diagonal Avenue. And it was by chance. Because in reality, I was trying to buy a telescope at the department store on the other side of the corner. I lived devouring books in a solitary bungalow in the coastal hills, far from the city lights and traffic. Reading at night was thrilling, and sometimes I rested my eyes by stargazing. Hence, I wanted to acquire a telescope that wasn’t a toy. The small bookstore was close to the chamfered corner, wedged between cafes, parking exits, and other businesses. And the storefront was a windowpane framed by green wooden slats, where pastries had likely once been abundant and the bowls o…