Slinky French cabaret music wafts from the stereo, and the substantial literature section positively overflows with the likes of Goethe, Findley and Vidal. There’s also a good selection of books on art, history and cooking. But the store mostly looks like a teenager’s crowded bedroom, stuffed with all the effluvium of a disposable mass culture: piles of used fashion, muscle and decor magazines (99 cents–$4.99); shelves of retro porn ($3–$7); a wall of vintage National Geographics (up to $9.99); and racks of mystery, romance, sci-fi and popular fiction paperbacks. New books cost slightly more than half the list price. Customers have been known to haggle, but with mixed results—best to try the $1 bargain bins at the front instead. You might score a copy of Carrie Fisher’s Hollywood epic, Postcards From the Edge.