Arrebato [madrid]
I used to live in Madrid, but now I only go when I’m able, and feel like it. When I get there I perform certain rituals, like a pilgrim arriving at Santiago de Compostela. One is to have a beer at a great bar called Pepe Botella, and another is to give in to the temptation of Arrebato (“Rapture”), a bookstore on La Palma street, right in the middle of Malasaña. It’s a second-hand bookstore, but that second hand has a soft touch. Pepe, the bookseller, finds objects of value to the literary sybarite and offers them up for sale instead of keeping them for himself, which is what I would do. It’s not like Tipos Infames, a nearby bookstore with a Michelin star for selling new work. It’s a space for exploration, a place where you never know what you’re going to find. Pepe knows everything about Spanish and Spanish American poetry, and laughs a little when he sees me with the Stephen King novels I scoop up from this fount to feed my collection spilling from my arms. I tell him I’m a bit of a freak, and he indulges me. Then we get to talking about poets, about our friend Ajo Micropoetisa, and about the situation in Spain. Arrebato is my School of Continuing Education.
I did penance there, once.
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Arrebato Libros – La Palma 21 – Madrid
[ + bar ]
Alfredito
Liliana Colanzi translated by Chris Meade
Once, when I was a little girl, I saw a pig being killed. It was summer. Flies were launching themselves against the windows.... Read More »
Marina Mariasch
translated by Jennifer Croft
HOW WILL TERROR TAKE ROOT IN THE FUTURE?
We jump right in, head first. The beginning is incredible. Halfway through is incredible. You quit smoking. We do the... Read More »
The Invisible Mourner
Ken Harvey
Gordon’s cold had gone deeper, his breathing raspy and heavy. He had just made an appointment to see his doctor later that afternoon... Read More »
Prairie Lights [iowa city]
Hugh Ferrer
For as little as $140, anyone now can now buy his or her own little bookstore—for that is essentially what an e-book reader is: a combination... Read More »