ers . ▁The ▁Wall ▁Street ▁Journal ▁character ized ▁it ▁as ▁a ▁place ▁where ▁" books ▁are ▁stack ed ▁floor - to - ce iling " ▁and ▁" sh el ves ▁filled ▁with ▁books ▁rise ▁above ▁a ▁floor ▁p iled ▁wa ist - high ▁with ▁seem ingly ▁end less ▁volumes . ▁Under foot , ▁between ▁paper back s , ▁worn ▁car pet ing ▁can ▁occasionally ▁be ▁g lim ps ed ." ▁The ▁New ▁York ▁Times ▁said ▁that ▁it ' s ▁" not ▁the ▁kind ▁of ▁place ▁one ▁goes ▁for ▁the ▁latest ▁best ▁sell ers , ▁literary ▁mag az ines , ▁a ▁coffee ▁or ▁an ▁author ▁talk ▁[ but ▁rather ] ▁a ▁place ▁to ▁rum m age ▁and ▁r uminate , ▁a ▁place ▁for ▁tre asure ▁hun ters ▁and ▁lost ▁sou ls ▁as ▁much ▁as ▁bibli oph iles ." ▁And ▁Goth am ist ▁described ▁it ▁as ▁" a ▁hel ter ▁sk elter ▁lab yr inth " ▁and ▁" one ▁of ▁the ▁last ▁' mess y ▁book store ' ▁strong holds ▁in ▁New ▁York ", ▁" al most ▁impossible ▁to ▁man eu ver ... without ▁knock ing ▁over ▁stack s ▁of ▁books ." ▁Despite ▁appearances , ▁the ▁tens ▁of ▁thousands ▁of ▁volumes ▁were ▁kept ▁in ▁sections ▁and ▁in ▁some ▁places ▁alphabet ized . ▁ ▁According ▁to ▁Sci oli , ▁the ▁store ▁was ▁more ▁order ly ▁before ▁his ▁wife ▁died ▁in ▁ 2 0 0 2 . ▁She ▁was ▁better ▁able ▁to ▁turn ▁away ▁additional ▁books . ▁" I ' ll ▁be ▁the ▁first ▁to ▁admit ▁I