Bookstore Tourism

By Maryann Yin 

phantom attic.JPGA Pittsburgh reader has organized a quirky literary tour for tourists visiting her city.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette explained: “Karen Lillis, a book-lover who moved here [Pittsburgh] five years ago from New York, doesn’t want to see our cultural landscape slide. ‘It is really devastating to see stores doing poorly,’ she said, and she hates that newspapers report the death of book stores as if that were a done deal.”

During the September tour, tourists will visit six different independent bookstores, including the comic books and graphic novels specialty shop Phantom of the Attic. The bookstores are spread out through four different Pittsburgh neighborhoods: Polish Hill, Garfield, Oakland, and the South Side.


This GalleyCat correspondent recommends the following NYC bookstore tour for out-of-towners. See New York City starting at Books of Wonder near the Flatiron District, the Strand in Union Square, McNally Jackson in SoHo, Midtown Comics in Times Square, Greenlight Bookstore in Fort Greene, and Word in Greenpoint. Since New York City lacks an official trolley setup, we recommend you buy an unlimited Metrocard for the subway. What bookstores would you visit in New York City?