Even more unbelievable, you have a good chance of finding what you want. Unlike the typical used-book store, where disorganization reigns, here every tome is shelved not only by category but also by author. And oh what categories: everything from "needlework" to "Judaica" to "Clinton." Just when you think you've exhausted the possibilities, up pops another, such as "diet."
You'll find more-contemporary stuff in the current section, as well as the in the hardcover- and softcover-bestseller sections -- Carl Hiassen's Sick Puppy, for example, or Melinda Haynes' novel Mother of Pearl. Both were there in hardcover copies in pristine, jacketed condition on a recent visit. This month they cost $4 each. In the collectible-and-rare section at the front of the store, you might turn up a beautifully bound 1947 version of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, currently on sale for $15, or Creative Home Decorating from 1946 for just $2. If you're really cheap, just look at the photographs, then put it back on the shelf. Around the corner the almost-as-intriguing classics section features (if it's still there, of course) a Modern Library Classics edition of D.H. Lawrence's Women in Love. The dust jacket's in perfect shape and the sale price of $1.50 ain't bad either. That's 45 cents less than its original price more than 40 years ago.
