One of my all-time favorite used book shops was the Passaic Book and Coin Center. In the 1960’s and 70’s, Arkham House books were sold at a 15% discount. In the 1980’s, Passaic opened up a second location in Montclair. I had never been to the Montclair location but the clerk at the desk confirmed that this is in fact the store opened by the owner of the Passaic store. The Passaic store on the other hand has been closed for years now. The store is located at 219-221 Glenridge Ave, Montclair, NJ 07042. Tel 973-987-3630, 888-987-6880. Web http://www.montclairbookcenter.com/
The web site states that they have 15,500 square feet of store space. I can well believe it because I was constantly finding yet another isle or another floor to explore. The store extends into the second floor and into the basement. The entire basement is devoted to hardcovers. No matter how obscure the topic of your interest, there is bound to be a sizable area of shelf space dedicated to it.
I sized up the neighborhhod with a view as to it’s suitability for a Café FISTFA. There are interesting shops running the gamut from the occult to antiques. The Café Eclectic has a large side room with comfortable couches where you can talk, munch pastries and drink coffee. Cuban Pete has an outdoor patio as well as spacious indoor seating. There is a Kansas City barbeque place called Indigo Smoke. None of these places had a take out menu but Indigo Smoke said their menu is on their web site at www.indigosmoke.com.
NJ Transit trains run in each direction about once every hour. With a senior citizen discount, a one way ticket cost me $2.50. About double that for those who are not part of the grey haired elite. Unfortunately, I discovered on my trip back, trains to Montclair do not run on weekends. I assume that busses travel out here but I hate busses. Probably the only way to have a gathering out here on a weekend would be to travel by car.
I just checked. NJ Transit busses do run on weekends. As a matter of fact, they drop you off a block from the book store. The fare for an Alte Kacker is $3.75 one way. You catch the bus at Port Authority in the city
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