WORD — Local services in New York

I came here first at the spur of the moment to secure my book for Allie Brosh's signing of, "Hyperbole and a Half".

As soon as I saw that there would be only one signing in NY during her brief book tour, and that there were a limited amount of hardcovers printed, I set my alarm and called first thing in the morning to have a book held for me. Being an eternal pessimist, I was waiting to be told that either they were out of hardcovers or that they couldn't hold one for me. But the woman on the phone cheerfully took my name and put it on hold. Yay!

Later in the day I went to pick it up. I was too paranoid to just leave it there until the next day, the day of the signing. The thing that shocked me was how small the space was. There must be some huge room in the back, right? Do they not realize how popular Allie Brosh is??? ...thought the woman who only discovered her 6 months ago...

The next day I made a return trip with book in hand. Whoa. There's a line down the block. I mean way down the block. I'd read that the tickets for the talk were sold out but I figured that the bulk of the people would inside somewhere. Nope. The store is about as small as it looks and the hundred or so of us who showed up were camped out in the street. For. 6. Hours. No... I'm not exaggerating.

As I waited, I had lots of time to ponder about this choice of location for this event. Someone's got the hook-up. This was a big "get" for an independent bookstore squirreled away in Greenpoint. Nice work, owner. Nice work. And thank you for the mini cupcakes. But you know what would have killed... coffee. I would have sold my first born for a cup of coffee. I really wish you had room in your store for coffee. And a chair. Just one comfy chair.

I wanted to bemoan my fate for having the last letter-group ticket (A-I... of course I'd be I) but once I found out that Allie was not only signing books but drawing in them, taking photos, putting on dinosaur costumes, and having meaningful conversations with her adoring fans, I pulled up my big girl panties and set in for the long haul. One Task Rabbit woman was just not up to the challenge and complained bitterly about missing the Red Sox playing in the World Series. Hey... priorities people.

Being about the 5th to last person in line, and it being 1 AM, I was not at my sparkly best by the time I met Allie. But amazingly, she was. While we waited, we were asked to draw something in return for Allie's drawing. I, in the spirit of "Hyperbole and a Half" made a drawing accompanied by text. Allie was so gracious about it. I really hope she kept it.

With my book signed "PARP!" and photo taken for posterity, I stumbled my way home in the dark of night clutching my prize. It...

Ordered a personalized copy of a book. I asked for a quote or a doodle, but got only a signature. Wish I would have known because I would not have paid $26 for a book that was $12 in Target. Another thing, when ordering from Target, books come in a cardboard mailer that protects the book. A bookstore that sends books in soft envelopes (and charges $5.95 for media mail shipping even though by weight, it should only have cost $4) deserves to go out of business. That's an Amazon move. But at least with Amazon, they are selling the books below retail and ships them for free. This bookstore, charged retail for the book(no problem), shipped in an envelope(big problem) and charged me extra for shipping(big problem). Never thought I'd say this, but I wish I had ordered...

i will have to wait and see if i like my book purchases before i give it 5 stars (i went there yesterday for the first time), but i love this independent book store. tucked away in a very polish section of brooklyn, this little independent book store is incredibly inviting and just asks you to peruse their shelves of nicely curated selections. i get very confused/overstimulated in department-like stores (aka borders, barnes and noble, macy's, etc.), so it is nice to come into a small shop with a good selection. and, the staff recommendations posted on the shelves totally dictated my purchases. also, if i like my staff selections, i am totally going to ask for the "book a month club"...