The big and beautiful independent bookstore and teahouse McNally Robinson is located at 50 Prince Street in New York. Opened just one year ago, it is already a successful bookstore and a very special place.

You will find in its two stories and more than fifty sections any book that you may be looking for -- from magazines from all over the world to stationery, from photography to architecture, from fashion to cookbooks (and international desserts!), from graphic novels to business, from essays to novels. And you will also find something especially interesting and quite unique in New York: a section for international literature.

A special notice is hanging on the wall at the entrance of the literature section. It reads: "As part of our elaborate efforts at matchmaking readers and writers, we have organized our literature section by region. We hope to create an interesting browsing experience while drawing attention to international literature that might otherwise disappear in this vast section. But writers are a peripatetic group - indeed, after reading about the author blurbs for every novelist in the store we're wondering what these people are running from. In many cases we have made uncomfortable, tortured decisions about which country we feel an author is writing from, despite where he or she lives. For example, we are excited to have set up shop in Peter Carey's neighborhood and wait daily for a glimpse of him but we've shelved his books in Oceania because we looked deeply into the souls of his novels and found ourselves breathing Australian air [...] Nabokov and Rushdie are in a section of literary nomads."

The owner, Sarah McNally, shared with us her goal when opening the bookstore and revealed her feelings regarding international literature.

- "Could you explain to us what you wanted to accomplish when you opened this bookstore? How did you want your bookstore to look? Why were you interested in this challenge?

My goal was to set up a state of the art international store. I used to be an editor here in New York and I was mostly interested in international writers. But I couldn't hire them, because of that inaccurate thing that is being said everywhere: "International literature doesn't sell." This is not true. In Canada, where I come from, we like this approach and I wanted to reflect it in my store in New York. My first idea was to display the literature of the four continents at the entrance of the store, - laying out a panel for each continent. I gave up this idea but I set up an international section that captures what New York City is. I also wanted to feature international best sellers. It is so frustrating not to find them anywhere. Here... Look ... we have on display the books of this new publishing house, Europa Editions. They are great.
I believe that things are getting better. The small publishing houses are publishing lots of international literature! The larger ones are going to follow, well, I hope...

- We especially like the International Section. Could you comment on the notice that is hanging on the wall in that section?

I needed to break down the literature section that is so vast, to help customers find their way through it. I decided to organize it by region to also remember how huge the world is. For example, setting up the Middle East section was moving and exciting and it was the way to bring into focus how much the Middle East is present in our culture. The international list helps to humanize the whole world.

- Do people want to buy foreign literature or do they just want a good novel and don't care where it comes from?

People come in here to buy a novel but they may look also for foreign literature because they like to learn something while reading. And the last thing I would like to read is something about a girl like me and I guess that they feel the same way I do.

- You have a good selection of French books: some sixty different authors, from the very classic Chretien de Troyes to some great authors of the 19^th and 20^th centuries, like Balzac, Maupassant, Flaubert, Duras, Celine, Simon, Proust. You also offer some contemporary voices: Toussaint, Van Cauwelaert. How do you choose the books that you want to sell?

It's the feeling. My taste is the same as the taste of thousands of people. I always follow my feelings. Sometimes I get angry when the publishing reps mislead me and I make wrong choices. I don't like to have bad books or books which I don't like.

- What are the books you sell the best?

Fiction. British fiction. Among the French novels, the big successes are Alexandre Dumas and Houellebecq. Oh, and I forgot, yes, also Anna Gavalda with Someone I Loved.

- Who are the customers? Do they have a personal or a professional relationship with France, I mean, for example, are they French teachers?

Not at all. They are just people. In New York, and especially downtown, people are open to the world. They are curious, intellectually alive.

- I have been told that it's getting harder to sell French literature to booksellers.

Yes, you are right. They don't want it. Barnes and Noble doesn't want it. And they have enormous power.

- You organize numerous events in the bookstore.

We hosted some readings from the 2005 Pen World Voices: the New York Festival of International Literature... It was really great, really exciting. But the events don't reflect necessarily what we are. I want to take on this part. I want to develop something with the embassies, to organize events with international authors. People do really respond. People are very interested.

For more information on the bookstore: http://www.mcnallyrobinsonnyc.com

New-York, October 2005