WORD Bookstore in Jersey City

123 Newark Ave, Jersey City, NJ

Yours Truly Making A Peace Sign

WORD Books (@wordbookstores): This erudite establishment has been in business for only a short time, but it already serves as the literary focal point of the Grove Street area in Jersey City, a short swim across the Hudson from Battery Park. 

Inside, the bookish will find anything they might desire, from Emma Straub‘s second novel, The Vacationers, to Tolstoy, to George Saunders (who has developed an admirable chin pelt, for a human. Same goes for Tolstoy. Ms. Straub is, sadly, lacking whiskers altogether). From the cafe counter one may purchase any number of pastries or caffeinated beverages, although none are baked or brewed with paper, a strange oversight for a business that deals almost exclusively in such material.

Local literary denizens hibernate at the rear tables, where, on occasion, certain published authors are called upon to stand in front of podiums and speak into microphones.

Though the shelves do appear thoroughly stocked, I don’t doubt a small space could be cleared for my forthcoming memoir, once it finds a publisher. Dear Msrs. at Penguin (@penguinusa), Farrar, Straus & Giroux (@fsgbooks), and Random House (@atrandom): take note of this lovely place, for my sake. I recommend placing the memoir under EDITORS’ PICKS, preferably between Ms. Straub and Tolstoy.