Patrons at the
Globe Bookstore and Café in Prague don't have to choose between books
and drink: here they can find both.
"In Prague, beer is cheaper
than water," manager Kaja Curtis (at right, with a customer) said. "But the culture of literature
and the arts is alive and well. There's a lot of emphasis on books and
literature and on education here. That's always been the Czech
tradition."
Stepping into the Globe and entering its quiet,
wood-, sun- and book-filled sanctuary, it's clear the indie bookstore is
thriving in Prague. The city's first English-language bookstore, the
Globe was founded 15 years ago and has welcomed a marquee of literary
legends from Klima to Roth and caters to ex-pat poets and writers who've
made this capital city their home. The storefront is stacked with
titles on two levels and across a wrought-iron balcony; the rear is a
spacious bar and café with a lively garden and American-style food.
In
May, the store held a launch for The Return of Kral Majales, a hefty
collection of English-language ex-pats' poetry, fiction and short
stories edited by Louis Armand. The Globe hosts a biweekly book club,
poetry readings and music performances, as well as free English-language
movies every Sunday.
The café drives the business, but the
bookstore is the heart and history of the place, general manager Eva
Regulyova said. When I stepped off Pstossova Street into the store on a
hot weekday morning, I literally dropped into a café chair, pulled out
my notebook and started writing down titles I wanted to read.
From
my perch I could see the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, any
number of magazines from National Geographic to Vogue; Alain de Botton's
The Art of Travel, The Art of Living by Epictetus, The Big Short by
Michael Lewis and Too Big to Fail by Andrew Ross Sorkin, to name a few.
Literature
looks different when you travel. Fiction by or about Balkan, Czech,
Hungarian and Bohemian people jumped out at me. Spies of the Balkans by
Alan Furst and The Glass Room by Simon Mawer--how could I have
overlooked these titles at home when here they seemed like essential
reading? Ditto The Shadow of the Sun and Travels with Herodotus by
ex-pat Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuścińsk.
Once a month there's
a folk singer in the Globe's café. She was there when I went back for a
second visit and had a lovely chat about literature with Kaja. She was
singing "I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane," and it was hard not to feel a
little melancholy because I'd be leaving soon, too.--Laurie Lico
Albanese