Books and Books
265 Aragon Ave., Coral Gables, 305/442-4408; 933 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach, 305/532-3222; and 9700 Collins Ave., Bal Harbour, 305/864-4241; www.booksandbooks.com
To know how valuable Mitchell Kaplan's growing chain of independent bookstores has become, imagine South Florida's literary landscape without them. Take away the readings by national and local writers -- Chuck Palahniuk, Eric Bogosian, Umberto Eco, Edna Buchanan and David Sedaris were recent guests -- that Books and Books has presented. Take away the dozen or so discussion groups that regularly debate the deeper meanings of a new novel or maybe even a Tibetan scroll. Take away reading alone or chatting with friends (or strangers) in the Spanish-style courtyard or café at the Coral Gables store, or the outdoor tables at the Lincoln Road shop. Take away the enriching stock of books themselves, which could bankrupt compulsive readers. While you're at it, take away the annual Miami Book Fair International, which Kaplan started in 1984 and is now the largest of its kind in the United States. What's left? The horror, the horror.
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