73. Used Bookstores

Americans throw away 320 million books every year. How do some of them find a second life? Zachary Crockett is just browsing. 

• SOURCE:
  • Francisco Hernandez, owner of Leaves bookstore.

• RESOURCES:
  • "Reinventing Retail: The Novel Resurgence of Independent Bookstores," by Ryan L. Raffaelli (Harvard Business School Working Paper, 2020).
  • Gravity's Rainbow, by Thomas Pynchon (1973).
  • The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison (1970).
  • Leaves bookstore.

• EXTRA:
  • "Dying Is Easy. Retail Is Hard," by Freakonomics Radio (2024).