McLean & Eakin: 'As Rare and Ordinary as Really Good Pie'

"I know this is a modern world where books are overnighted to your doorstep and beamed to your hand-held device in under a minute. But even if I went to Petoskey [Mich.] in February and there were no morels and no cherries and no pie, I would still have a good vacation at McLean & Eakin. It is just so thrilling to be around people who read, people who will pull a book off the shelf and say, 'This is the one you want.' People who want to know what I'm reading and will tell me what they're reading so that while we talk, stacks of books begin to form around us. It's my own personal idea of heaven. It is also, in this age of the overnighted electronic hand-held, a bit of Americana you aren't going to see everywhere. Like the town of Petoskey itself, a very good bookstore feels a little nostalgic, a place out of time. Look at all those people looking at books! It is at once as rare and ordinary as really good pie."