Recently, I was browsing for books at Powerhouse Arena, in Dumbo, and noticed a sign asking people not to snap photos of the books on display. What a thing to have to ask! Here was a bookstore providing shelter, a bit of calm in the city, and tables with chosen, colorful, physical copies of books. And yet people were willing to bypass the ambiance and the expertise with an iPhone snap and an online purchase to be made later. To be in a bookstore is to feel the presence of artistic lives, a devotion to word and image. Bob Eckstein has previously drawn the bookstores of the city, and he returns here with a new set of drawings and stories. Some of these stores are thriving, some are shuttering, and some are just happy memories. — Michael Agger
Bob Eckstein has contributing to The New Yorker since 2007. He published, most recently, “The Complete Book of Cat Names (That Your Cat Won't Answer to, Anyway.”
Goings On
What we’re watching, listening to, and doing this week, online, in N.Y.C., and beyond. Paid subscribers also receive book picks.
Our Local Correspondents
Why You Can’t Get a Restaurant Reservation
How bots, mercenaries, and table scalpers have turned the restaurant reservation system inside out.
By Adam Iscoe
The New Yorker Interview
Jonathan Haidt Wants You to Take Away Your Kid’s Phone
The social psychologist discusses the “great rewiring” of children’s brains, why social-media companies are to blame, and how to reverse course.
By David Remnick
Pop Music
The Tortured Poetry of Taylor Swift’s New Album
“The Tortured Poets Department” has moments of tenderness. But it suffers from being too long and too familiar.
By Amanda Petrusich