There are so many things done right at Malaprop's Bookstore/Cafe inAsheville, N.C., that a weekend visit feels like a month in bookheaven.
Late last month, on a sunny Sunday afternoon, 60 people attended areading called "Writers at Home," hosted by regional author TommyHayes (In the Family Way, Random) and featuring short-story writer andnovelist Valerie Ann Leff, author of Better Homes and Husbands (St.Martin's) and poet Gilbert Allen, author of Driving to Distraction(Orchises Press).
Hayes added a bit of local color by introducing the day's readers as"Yankees," much to the crowd's delight. Some of today's listeners arelong-time residents, others part of the growing Asheville boom. On theway to the store's mix-matched array of chairs, many in the crowd stopto order a hot drink from the friendly young coffee bar staff, whotuck tiny cat-shaped animal crackers between each drink's ceramic cupand its saucer.
Owner Emöke B'Racz explained that the store aims to create a sort ofeveryday literary magic, whether its form is a reading series orpassing a customer's manuscript on to a literary agent. "That's whatbeing a community bookstore is," she said, "The idea is to have fun,to extend ourselves in the community where it's truly needed, to be asanctuary, and to at the same time, support the creative arts."
Two decades ago, having learned "what not to do" working for abookstore chain in Connecticut, B'Racz moved to Asheville and set upshop in a then boarded-up downtown, which has since undergone arevival. New Ager practitioners were among the first transplants todiscover Asheville's charms, then came a wave of professionals andartists, including writers. At the reading, ex-pats from Boston, NewJersey and Alaska mingled with North and South Carolina-born bookfans.
B'Racz attributes the growth to the beauty of the landscape. "I thinkthere is something magical that the mountains have--somehow, thisplace allows a person to breathe, and it's breath-taking. And it'sprobably Thomas Wolfe's ghost that brings the writers." In addition,she notes philosophically that "O. Henry and Zelda, died here."
In 2000, Malaprop's won PW's Bookseller of the Year Award. Theintervening years have generally been good to the store, but, reportsB'Racz, "Every fourth year there's a major dip and we climb out of itand surpass the previous peak. This is the fourth year."
The national economy has been responsible for some of the store'sbusiness challenges. But having the sidewalk outside the store underrepair for four months has proven to be a much bigger deal. Thesidewalk snafu also coincided a five-month personal leave B'Racz tookto care for her ailing mother.
To compensate for the economy, a few careful changes have beenimplemented. "We restructured how we manage the store; we have a teaminstead of 'me the Queen.' We changed the café completely, adding anew menu, and we decided to join the cyber age by adding a cyberstation," she says, pointing to a computer standing at the outerfringe of the café area. Nevertheless, the biggest investment B'Raczhas made is in her enthusiastic and dedicated staff. "If I made $10million, that's where I would put it," she said.
Despite the economic challenges of the past year, B'Racz has also kepther sense of humor: Recently, while taking a tour of her sales floor,past the Wendall Barry poster and the George Singleton books, past thelocal poetry and Secret Life of Bees, Emöke was stopped by a newcustomer--a new Asheville arrival, perhaps?--in search of direction."She asked me where 'Self-Help' was," Emoke says. "I thought, 'ShouldI tell her?'"