Pete Hamill joins vintage bookseller at Old Stone House holiday fair
As sales of paper books decline, some bookstore owners are trying a different marketing technique: presenting the book as an artisanal object. Brooklyn’s Heather O’Donnell is one bookseller who’s betting that the borough of all things vintage has space for vintage books.
On Saturday, O’Donnell presided over the first Brooklyn Holiday Book Fair, which she organized with eight local bookstores. Book lovers of all ages packed the Old Stone House in Park Slope to browse photography books, first editions and author-inscribed copies. Pete Hamill’s reading of O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi” capped the event.
“Brooklyn has a book culture,” O’Donnell said. “Appreciating the craftsmanship of the press is part of that.”