Booklovers Paradise

I found this place on my break from work and got excited because you rarely ever see book shops anymore. So I decided to stop in. Well that was a bad idea, the moment I walked in the guy at the front asked if I was someone who was going to buy something or waste time. I told him I wanted to look around for a bit to see if I like anything. Then he began to lecture me on the difference between walking into a store to buy something and just wasting his time. Halfway through I stopped him and walked out. This guy is horrible. He is a pretentious prick and I wonder how he keeps his store running when all he does is turn potential customers away. Never stepping foot in this dump again.

I understand the negative comments about this book store but I do have to make an argument for the old «kook». The used book store business has really taken a downturn due to the big chain stores like Barnes and Noble and with the invention of things like the kindle and nook which make actual books obsolete.
My experience with this store has been very good as opposed to the rest.
I needed to make room for new books on my shelf so instead of throwing them away (which is like burning books in my opinion). I thought of Booklover’s Paradise right away, I’d always driven past the store (located on Merrick Road) and figured that would be a great way to give back. I wasn’t looking for any money so I called and spoke to the owner and then dropped off the piles of books I no longer had space for.
I thought he was a kind old man, we spoke for a little bit and yes I admit he isn’t the usual polite salesman we expect in our capitalist society, he’s trying to make a living in a declining trade.
He sent me a handwritten letter thanking me for my donation and a gift card for his store. I thought that was the sweetest thing, and didn’t forget his simple kindness.
I went back there recently to look for some science fiction novels I needed for a class I was taking and really enjoyed climbing over the mountain of books helping him dig out a novel by Ursula K. LeGuin! I got what I needed and had a conversation with him before leaving about his wife and their lives together which I thought was very sweet.
Basically what I’m trying to say, is give the guy a break and buy some books from him instead of from a chain bookstore with no personality. You know your money is going to supporting this man and his wife instead of into the CEO’s pocket. Imagine sitting in that store day after day hoping that someone would come in and buy something? I think that would make me a little crazy too.

C’mon Unilocal,allow zero star reviews!
I think this man is delusional…
My boyfriend and I stopped in here the other day; he’s always on the lookout for used gunsmithing books.
First indication that this place doesn’t get much business– the lights weren’t even on. The old man was sitting outside and when we pulled up and when he led us in he turned the lights on.
Among the piles and piles of books, the old man Finds a gunsmithing book that Boyfriend doesn’t yet own so, things are lookin’ up at this point. Oh how quickly they go downhill. The exchange below is as close to real life as I can remember:
boyfriend: «great, I don’t have this, what’s the price on this one»
Old man: «prices are written on the inside»
Boyfriend: (opens cover) «what a bargain! 25 cents it says?»
Old man «no. Twenty five DOLLARS»
Boyfriend: «for this? It’s old, worn, yellowed, and says here originally $ 9.99»
Old man: «I don’t want to deal with you anymore. I only want to deal with people who want me to earn a living»
Boyfriend «but this is a lot of money to pay for a used book.»
Old man: «come back when you have money then. I don’t want want to deal with you. Goodbye.»
…my guess is if you’re sitting outside of your shop with the lights off, you aren’t really making a living anyway… sorry old man

This man is truly insufferable. I am not usually one for writing reviews, however, since it’s been over a week since my unfortunate visit to this place, and the wound is still fresh, I’ve deemed it necessary. The owner of this store was rude to my friend and me immediately upon entering the store. We walked in, and he instantly looked at me – with what I thought at the time was a joking stare – and asked if I was serious about buying anything. I told him, of course I was and that’s why I was there perusing his store. The store itself might have some sort of appeal, as was said by others, but largely it was an obstacle course, one which was difficult to navigate around and I had to pick up books that had fallen after being precariously stacked atop one another in the middle of the aisles. It’s fairly clear that this fellow isn’t doing much business based on his reprehensible attitude, and the conspicuous fact that he has far too many books than he know what to do with.
I decided to select three volumes from him, all of which were remarkably overpriced ($ 12 for a mass market paperback of Stuart Gilbert’s annotations to Ulysses?!). I had intimated that I was going to bargain the prices, which he seemed to say was fine until, that is, we got to the register. He rang the books up without taking any account of wanting to negotiate the absurd prices he had penciled in. He simply looked up at me and said «Here at this store, I’m not trying to make a dollar, I’m trying to make a living. So why don’t you leave and not come back until you can afford to buy my products. I’m serious!».
I will be glad never to return there. It is unfortunate, though, that in these days where bookstores are slowly fading to obscurity, one which purports to be a «booklover’s paradise» is riddled with the obnoxious attitude of this morally ambiguous shop owner. Avoid at all costs; never patronize this man’s business.

Where do I even begin? First of all, make no mistake, the two bad reviews below
are spot-​on: do NOT patronize this kook’s absurd excuse for a bookstore. Secondly,
in my case, you must keep in mind that I’ve A. been a serious book collector since
around 1981, when I first got seriously into author H. P. Lovecraft and Fantasy/​Horror
fiction and SF fiction and nonfiction/​criticism and B. I’ve also been an established,
known author and critic in those fields both pro. and non-​pro. since almost that long.
I know the rare and SF/​Horror/​Fantasy book markets in and out. I know the field backwards and forwards, I know book values backwards and forwards, and I know the publishers, authors, editors, and everything else in the field backwards and forwards.
First of all the store is indeed a mess, with crap piled high to the rafters and junk
and books and other things blocking some of the aisles making it a real feat to
try to browse the place, but ok, sometimes that’s fun. It’s not organized very well
but there’s maybe some method to the madness here. The ONLY book I saw
here, the 1989 Collected Stories of Richard Matheson (yeah, he’s a good writer
but OVERRATED and he’s no Lord Dunsany or Arthur Machen or even HPL!)
the signed, deluxe, slipcased edition this guy wanted $ 150 for: later research
revealed that this edition goes for as high as $ 500 on ABE Books, but we all
know now that most of the dealers on there are full of s – t and are highballing
prices these days to the skies and there’s no way to know, sometimes, what
the real general range value of a book is anymore, and there are no price
guides worth a damn in the field to guide you. So it’s easy to get ripped off.
However, in this one case, this kook’s store seemed at least semi-​reasonable
with this one title. But, who is blowing $ 150 for a Richard Matheson signed
ltd. edition in this day and age on L.I. Nobody, that’s who. And I’m a Matheson
fan. There are cheaper editions of his collected works that one could collect
unless one MUST own the signed 1989 ltd. edition, ok?
But otherwise, this guy had two other offerings that made me want to either laugh
in his face, or cry. One was a 1977 set of books ghostwritten by Horror
author Ramsey Campbell (as Carl Dreadstone), who I’ve met at least four times since the late 1980s and own countless signed editions of his: granted this set of his
ghostwritten Universal Horror film «novelizations» is a bit rare but you can find
the individual paperbacks easily online cheaply, but this character at this shop
wanted something like $ 200 for the slipcased paperbacks, and no, it wasn’t
autographed by Ramsey. Overpriced, even though a tad rare? Yep. Also,
he had a bag full of LATER (not early!) issues of the magazine Crypt of
Cthulhu which I even wrote for as a young high school lad and I’m friends with
Robert M. Price who published the magazine, for years. I asked this guy
what he wanted for the 26 issues and he quoted us $ 700 the set. This is just outrageous. The very early issues (#1−15 or so) of Crypt are maybe worth a bit more these days but the later ones are simply NOT worth as much. They are easily obtained cheaply on Amazon or Ebay for modest prices. At this point I was really getting disgusted.
But the final and most important reason not to patronize this dreadful shop
is that the owner is utterly and totally obnoxious beyond all belief. I made
the grave error, apparently, of making some remark as we walked in here
about not having megabucks these days to collect as once I did, or something,
which apparently gave this cretin license to basically ignore me, and make
later untoward and nasty comments such as «I don’t know if I have any other
items you might like since I’m reluctant to show them to you since you
cannot meet my prices,» or, «young man come back when you have a job
and can spend the money and have your mother buy you books» (my mom
happened to be with me when we visited this retarded shop!).
First of all, this assclown had no idea what money I might or might not have, and
had no business asking what job I might have, or assume (as he clearly did)
that I DIDN’T have a job or money enough to meet his absurdly inflated
book prices! Why anybody would EVER give this guy ANY money for
anything at all in this shop I do not know. All I know is I bought NOTHING
and will NEVER, EVER return or buy a single thing at this abortion of a book
shop. And it’s sad since if the place was taken over by an actual human
being and organized and repriced properly and catalogued properly, it could
possibly be the best remaining indie bookstore on L.I. (and we basically have
almost zero left anyway), but as it is, it is a nightmare on wheels.

My advice? AVOID AT ALL COSTS. If you want something like Richard
Matheson’s Collected Stories, go online and check some specialist
dealers like Other Worlds in R.I., Ebay, ANYTHING but this obnoxious man’s
horrible tourist trap.

A grimy store run by a rude, angry, inter-​personally challenged man. They have an interesting selection of books at very high prices, often 3 to 5 times what you pay Amazon or eBay. Think of the convenience, why travel all the way to Manhattan when you can pay New York City prices right here?
If you have a high tolerance for demeaning comments, frequent personal insults and a dirty environment, then take a ride over and check this place out.

Most uninteresting, and disorganized used bookshop; my hands and jacket were very dirty when leaving. To add insult to injury, the owner was extremely rude while I was leaving because I didn’t buy a book. I actually got a very creepy vibe while leaving as he was following me outside quite closely from behind, complaining that I made no purchase. He must have a horrible memory, because the last time I visited his shop, I purchased a few books.
Astonishing that someone would treat customers like that.
Steer clear of this place.

My review is based on selling used books to this bookseller, as opposed to purchasing used books. Typically, I wouldn’t expect much from selling used books, but my experience was so lousy that I felt I needed to warn others trying to sell books to this store.
My husband and I are preparing to move, and had around 130 books we were trying to get rid of — good quality fiction, nonfiction, cookbooks and audio books. We let the owner know that we planned on taking anything he wouldn’t take to the nearby Goodwill, as there were so many books. I didn’t expect him to take many of them, but I thought it was worth a shot.
We parked the car directly in front of the store, approximately 10 feet from the store’s entrance. We had arranged the books in the trunk of the car with the spines facing up. My husband asked the owner if he wouldn’t mind just looking in the trunk to see which titles he was interested in taking. The owner responded, «You’re young; unload them onto the curb so I can look at them on the street.» It wouldn’t have been entirely too much to ask, except that I’m seven and a half months pregnant. The owner refused to budge, however, and proceeded to sit in a chair in front of the store and watch while my husband and I unloaded all 130 books from the trunk and walk about five feet to place them in piles onto the sidewalk. The guy chose about 10 of the books, including a few hardcovers and coffee-​table cookbooks and then, with a really nasty look on his face, told me he would give me $ 6 for them. He gave me the cash, took the books he wanted, and left my husband and I standing on the curb to unload the remaining books back into the trunk of the car.
$ 6 probably wasn’t even worth the cost of gas to get out to Long Island and back. The store, from what I could see, looks like something out of an episode from one of those hoarders shows. The worst part was his lousy attitude, though.
If you have books to get rid of and you’re in the area, I’d highly recommend just donating them to Goodwill (the people there, only a few blocks away, are lovely). It’s not worth the trouble visiting this grumpy owner to try and sell him anything.

This obnoxious man saw my name in a newspaper, found my website, emailed me an urgent message relating to the article and asked me to call him. I did under the assumption that he knew me or the work that I did and wanted to promote it. He didn’t. He just wanted to sell me used books.
I’ve never been to this store, and I will never set foot in this store.