great bookstore moments

Since I mentioned bookstores in the previous post, it made me wonder what the greatest bookstore moments in literary history might be. The first one that jumps to mind is Nietzsche coming across some Schopenhauer while browsing in Leipzig. There must be other good ones.

My personal best bookstore moments are simply discover-and-purchase moments. I don’t tend to stand there and read things I haven’t bought yet. Instead, like an eagle, I take the prey away to a nest somewhere nearby. So, my better moments of being rapt for hours with a newly discovered book have mostly taken place in libraries, or perhaps in a bookstore-then-nearby-cafe combination.