I haven’t been in for years, but evidently Pandemonium is finding money tight after their Big Move down to Central. My own experience with them is primarily going in on my lunch hour when I have neglected to provide myself with etwas zu lesen and picking up a trashy used paperback for a buck. It was excellent for that purpose. Had I been blogging books at the time, y’all would have heard about it. I often wish, these non-Cantabridgian days, that I had such a local place. I don’t know that they made any large quantity of money off me, as I rarely purchased any books or games new. Now that I think about it, I did, on occasion, buy the odd Dork Tower collection or Fluxx deck. Anyway, I was a regular, within the meaning of the act, and am no longer a regular due only to being far away. Even then, when in Greater Boston, I would often try to make my way to Harvard Square for one thing and another, and one of those things would generally be a visit to Pandemonium. Now, however, I will have to actually remember to head to Central, which, you know, I might do (Pearl and 1369 and 10,000 Villages and not terribly far from the ess and ess).
Anyway, what YHB was going to say is that this Tohu Bohu is happy to endorse Pandemonium, and without compensation, either. If you are in the market for what they sell, and are in the general neighborhood, I recommend you drop by and see what they are up to. What do they sell? Books, specfic mostly with some comics, and games, role-playing mostly with some scattered Other Stuff. Cheapass games, collectible card games, that sort of thing. For me, the key thing was the wide selection of cheap, crappy secondhand paperbacks. It was like ... you know what it was like? It was like going over to a friend’s house and rummaging through their shelves. Yes, I did have to actually pay a dollar or so for the book, but it really felt more like that than like a commercial transaction.
Yes, the staff was knowledgeable, probably far too knowledgeable, in that they had opinions, which meant that some of the things they recommended were Not To My Taste. Which is, fine, you know, as people are different, one to another, but still. Oh, and although I wouldn’t describe the place as a hangout for con-going types, there was generally somebody in there in the sort of half-costume street-clothes that scream of desparate nerdosity, trying to have a neverending conversation about some esoteric RPG something or other with the clerk who doesn’t want to offend the poor human-without-social-skills but who is nonetheless aware that there is somebody at the counter who wants to give the store his money and then leave. I am old. I don’t enjoy that part of the atmosphere all that much anymore.
On the other hand, I am very happy about the money I have given them, and what I got in return. So. An endorsement.
chazak, chazak, v’nitchazek,
-Vardibidian.