Much like quality literature, fine bookstores are likewise often defined by the collection of bizarre characters that inhabit them and the remarkable stories and tales that they generate.  The quirky owner, the odd assortment of regulars shuffling among the shelves, and old over-stuffed couches smelling of pipe tobacco and cigarettes are the things that define these institutions in our memory and what continually draw us back when we are in search of the next good read. The characters and stories that haunt these businesses give them a life of there own and can quickly transform what is in reality no more than a simple business transaction into a continual conversation between old friends each time we return.