Lynne's Lens
Book Store Kitty
The biggest surprise about tiny Archer City, Texas, may not be the fact that two major motion pictures have been filmed here; instead, it may be that this tiny town of less than 2,000 is home to the largest used book store in the U.S., Booked Up. Owned by Pulitzer-Prize winning author and native son, Larry McMurtry, this bibliophile's heaven is located in four different buildings scattered throughout the block-long downtown and boasts over 450,000 books in its collection. The thing I like best about this place (other than the best book store kitty ever, Leo) is that you can wander from building to building collecting books by the armful, and you're on the honor system to walk back to the main building to pay for them. You could easily take off with a lot of very valuable books, but I'll bet that not too many people do because, well, a true book lover making the trek from goodness-knows-where to this itty bitty speck on the map just wouldn't consider such a thing.
Here's an interesting article about McMurtry and his love/hate relationship with this small town:
www.dmagazine.com/Home/2009/08/04/Archer_City_Texas.aspx
UPDATE 8/10/12: Sadly, most of McMurtry's collection is on the auction block this weekend, and three of the four buildings will be closing:
www.kansascity.com/2012/08/10/3756842/at-book-sale-larry-...
Book Store Kitty
The biggest surprise about tiny Archer City, Texas, may not be the fact that two major motion pictures have been filmed here; instead, it may be that this tiny town of less than 2,000 is home to the largest used book store in the U.S., Booked Up. Owned by Pulitzer-Prize winning author and native son, Larry McMurtry, this bibliophile's heaven is located in four different buildings scattered throughout the block-long downtown and boasts over 450,000 books in its collection. The thing I like best about this place (other than the best book store kitty ever, Leo) is that you can wander from building to building collecting books by the armful, and you're on the honor system to walk back to the main building to pay for them. You could easily take off with a lot of very valuable books, but I'll bet that not too many people do because, well, a true book lover making the trek from goodness-knows-where to this itty bitty speck on the map just wouldn't consider such a thing.
Here's an interesting article about McMurtry and his love/hate relationship with this small town:
www.dmagazine.com/Home/2009/08/04/Archer_City_Texas.aspx
UPDATE 8/10/12: Sadly, most of McMurtry's collection is on the auction block this weekend, and three of the four buildings will be closing:
www.kansascity.com/2012/08/10/3756842/at-book-sale-larry-...