The Strand

Veteran New York Times journalist Sam Roberts chronicles the history of one of New York’s most iconic independent bookstores—from its founding a century ago to its status today as a beacon of book culture.

Established in 1927, The Strand is one of the nation’s most prominent literary landmarks and a long-standing independent cultural hub of New York City. The sole survivor of what was known as “Book Row,” a group of four dozen booksellers on Manhattan’s Fourth Avenue, the bookstore is now an emblem of New York’s literary world. The Strand has survived the Depression, the AIDS crisis, 9/11, the rise of online bookselling, and COVID-19, while drawing generations of writers and devoted readers, including former employees Patti Smith, Sam Shepherd and Mary Gaitskill. Francine Prose goes to The Strand “when there’s nothing I want in particular except to be in a bookstore" and David Bowie says “you always find the book you didn’t know you wanted."

In The Strand: The Story of a Beloved New York Bookstore, reporter and New York Times columnist Sam Roberts combines archival and primary source material, oral histories, cultural criticism, and reflections from authors, historians, retailers, and celebrities to tell The Strand’s hundred-year story—and through it, a larger story about New York history, literary culture and our enduring love of independent bookstores.