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Three Lives & Company
Category: Shopping Books, Mags, Music and Video Bookstores Bookstores [Edit]
154 W 10th St(between Waverly Pl & Greenwich Ave)
New York, NY 10014
Neighbourhood: West Village
(212) 741-2069
- Nearest Transit:
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Christopher St - Sheridan Sq (1, 2)
W 4 St (A, B, C, D, E, F, M)
14 St (1, 2, 3)
- Price Range:
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$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- No
40 reviews for Three Lives & Company
Review Highlights
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"The sweetest little bookshop in the world." In 3 reviews -
"Great selection, well displayed." In 5 reviews -
"...has an amazing selection of books despite its small size." In 3 reviews
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40 reviews in English
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Review from Helen L.
5/15/2012
The tiniest bookstore ever! But what a great use of space! Wall-to-wall, table-to-table and shelf-to-shelf full of books...a good selection, too. And you know what else they have? An awesome staff, not only helpful, but full of great recommendations and suggestions. For someone who is just now starting to get into reading books, I didn't feel intimated at all and I had fun here.
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Review from Teresa J.
4/16/2012 1 photo
Small and stocked to the gills. There were three people (three lives?) working there on the day I wandered in, which is remarkable given the size of the shop and the fact that it was Monday. I noticed there were many French works (in translation) out on the tables. Plus, "Satantango," the latest English translation of Laszlo Krasznahorkai was displayed at the register counter. There's a few points for being serious.
I had nothing in mind when I walked into Three Lives & Company, then recalled recently discussing with a friend that I'd never read "Winnie-the-Pooh." The clerk told me they don't stock it. I suppose that was predictable. They did, however, have "The Tao Of Pooh," the clerk said. He seemed slightly amused.
I opted for "On Booze" by F. Scott Fitzgerald instead. It was displayed with a selection of other slim New Directions paperbacks that would also have been perfect for someone who only takes carry-on baggage. Nice of the shop to accommodate tourists, even if it wasn't deliberate.
"On Booze" is very good. -
Review from Susan L.
11/27/2011
I moved to NYC the same year this store opened and I remember going there on occasion, but somehow I got out of the habit; I think it was because I lived within easy walking distance of the Strand for several years. Anyway; we were walking by Three Lives today and I had nostalgic memories, so we spent some time there and now I know why I like(d) the store so much. It's like something out of a (very pleasant) time warp; a throwback to the era when bookstore proprietors knew their customers' tastes and provided very personalized service. The woman working there today was very pleasant and she engaged in conversations with various customers. It's a very small store, but they manage to have an eclectic and interesting selection of books; a little bit about a lot of things. I discovered that I already own several of the books prominently displayed, which must mean they have my good taste in books (or vice versa). :)
As an aside, I love that part of the VIllage; it's really charming. -
Review from Ann T.
3/13/2012
Love this little bookstore and plan to visit again soon. Staff is very friendly and helpful.
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Review from Alexander P.
New York, NY
9/28/2011
Some things are worth fighting for. The great neighborhood bookstore is one of them. In our era of franchised barnes and noble clones there's really nothing like stepping into a place that feels like an original. There's The Strand, The Unoppressive Non-Imperialist Bookstore, McNally Jackson, St. Marks Books (which may not exist much longer) and this place.
You step inside and you feel like you're transported to another time, you feel like you're a member of the Algonquin Round Table. The whole place feels like it's been crafted with care and attention to every detail. I like a place where it feels like the owners have hand-selected the books on their shelves. It makes it feel like you can trust the recommendations.
Sure Amazon is great, it has its' place, the kindle is great, it also has its' place, but there's nothing like holding a book in your hand, having a bookshelf of beautiful volumes on your wall to take down and re-read over the years. A text document on a screen (and I am a kindle fan) can't replace that feeling and an impersonal chain can never replace the feel of a classic like Three Lives. -
Review from J S.
New York, NY
4/9/2012
A great local business. Staff on hand is friendly, knowledgeable and have great book suggestions. The selection is very good considering the size of the store. Prices are reasonable and the shop is clean and cozy.
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Review from Kilgore T.
Park Slope, Brooklyn, NY
1/18/2012
Love this place - location, staff, and selection are all great.
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Review from sara l.
Santa Monica, CA
10/30/2011 1 Check-in Here
The sweetest little bookshop in the world! Come here to wander (it's very small), and wonder, and explore. Great location as well!
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Review from Sara W.
New York, NY
8/17/2011
I would like to install a Murphy Bed in the bookshelves, creep in after hours, coze up with a good book or twenty, and sleep here.
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Review from Topher R.
New York, NY
9/9/2011
When I close my eyes and think of the perfect bookstore, what I see is Three Lives. While it may not be a huge space, it has a carefully handpicked, curated selection of amazing titles. The staff is whipsmart and friendly. They have great recommendations and all seem to be voracious readers.
I think it's a true destination and not merely a neighborhood bookstore. I always find books here that haven't caught my attention at bigger places like the Strand and Barnes and Noble. They are a destination for literary figures which allows them to have signed editions of many new titles. What I really love though is the superb staff that can always be relied on for intelligent conversation and interesting book suggestions. -
Review from Jason H.
Phoenixville, PA
2/17/2010
Three Lives is heaven.
I own a bookstore myself, a great little bookstore in its own right, and people always comment on how much they love it, but most of the time I just think to myself, "Yeah, I like it here, but you should go check out Three Lives."
There aren't many places like this left in America. Author driven, carefully stocked, a place where literature seems to be not only alive but thriving. There's not a bad book in the place. The staff picks are revelatory. The store practically defines bookstore aesthetics. I could go on forever... -
Review from Helene K.
12/30/2009
My sister and I have dubbed our excursions in New York as The Triumverate: cupcakes/bakeries + froyo + bookstores. We went in search of Three Lives & Company after we went to Magnolia and Phileo Yogurt.
Three Lives & Company is located a few blocks away from Bleecker on a relatively quiet corner. The store is not as small as Biography Books, but not nearly as large as Strand. However, Three Lives evoked a warm, cozy atmosphere.
They have some new titles, select New York guides/anthologies, and a decent selection of poetry (for my sister). There are tall shelves; no modern receipt system though (we had to ask for a handwritten receipt). A little old-school in that sense! I'm not sure if they take credit cards or not.Listed in: Trekking Across Gotham City, Books Galore
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Review from Be N.
San Francisco, CA
1/1/2009
Three Lives & Co. is a great neighborhood bookstore with a friendly staff and a decent selection of reads (for its small size). If I still lived in this neighborhood, I would frequent this spot more often for texts and tomes for all my bibliophiles.
When you're in the West Village, you should definitely stop by. -
Review from Amanda M.
Washington, DC
5/19/2008
What a marvelous bookstore. While small in stature, its breadth of books is magnificent. I walked in and perused for an hour before settling on my selection. However, if free from time constraints, I could easily spend hours perusing their stacks.
While they will not have as large as a selection as your local B&N, Three Lives offers a sense of camaraderie with the other customers as well as the feeling that the staff really values you. They have about three rather large tables stacked with piles of books. The walls are line with shelves and there are ledges along the bottom with even more books. It's a book lover's paradise.
Three Lives is a bookstore that I will return to.Listed in: Bookstores in New York
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Review from Sooj O.
New York, NY
2/3/2007
In her seminal work on pain, The Body in Pain: The Making and Unmaking of the World, Elaine Scarry has a tremendously moving passage about the function of rooms in our lives:
"It [the room] is, on the one hand, an enlargement of the body: it keeps warm and safe the individual it houses in the same way the body encloses and protects the individual within; like the body, its walls put boundaries around the self preventing undifferentiated contact with the world, yet in its windows and doors, crude versions of the senses, it enables the self to move out into the world and allows that world to enter. But while the room is a magnification of the body, it is simultaneously a miniaturization of the world, of civilization."
If I were to choose one room to encompass my internal self, it would have to be Three Lives. The structure of this bookstore is perfect; while small enough to be only one room, there are nooks and crannies where one can sit and browse through their judicious selection of literature. The wood paneling gives an old-fashioned Dickensenian feel to the place, and indeed, there is an older and more traditional approach to books here. You will find only the best books here selected by a knowledgable staff.
Go in there and buy Elaine Scarry's Body in Pain to read more of her amazing work, or her smaller, yet no less significant, book On Beauty. Or better yet, ask one of their staff for a recommendation...they won't steer you wrong. -
Review from Bobby A.
2/8/2010
GREAT independant bookstore, I happened to be in this neighborhood yesterday and after reading the reviews, I decided to stop in and check it out myself and the reviews are spot-on. Really easy going, relaxed atmosphere, West-Village vibe, well-lit, a true bibliophile's paradise, clean, knowledgable and well-read staff, and not a whiff of cookie-cutter corporatism decor anywhere.
I know if I lived inthis area, this would be where I'd be buying my books all the time.
Worth it! -
Review from Kyle M.
Washington, DC
8/12/2007
Every other bookstore, perhaps save Elliott Bay Books in Seattle or City Lights in San Francisco, makes me long to live in New York simply to drop by Three Lives and Company.
Hard to overstate my love for this place. -
Review from Duncan M.
New York, NY
12/17/2009
The perfect bookshop.
Small, cozy, staff who love books, they'll order almost any book you can possibly want. I could browse in here forever. -
Review from Alexandra D.
New York, NY
11/16/2009
I've popped in here a couple times just walking around the neighborhood and am always surprised at the amount of time I can spend browsing this seemingly tiny bookstore. They pack a lot of interesting books into this corner shop. The staff is friendly, the selection of reading material is wide and they are very willing to order a book for you if you cannot find what you are looking for on the shelves.
I also really like that they seem to be open later than most stores of this kind during the week! -
Review from Zac S.
4/18/2009 1 Check-in Here
It takes some time to find the good local bookstores in any city.
Great selection, well displayed. friendly staff.
I will certainly be back to buy some books for some travel reading. -
Review from Gourmet G.
San Francisco, CA
12/30/2005 1 photo
You'll find a larger selection and pay less at any one of the bookstore chains, but there's much to be said for patronizing a shop that looks like it belongs in an old-time movie. A charming setting and a friendly staff make this a nice place to browse and hopefully buy. It's a throwback to a gentler age that's worth supporting, and worthy of five stars for having the gumption to battle the big guys.
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Review from Sam P.
New York, NY
12/6/2007
Close your eyes and picture the perfect bookstore. It probably has floor to ceiling shelves filled with everything from paperback literature classics to the latest hard-cover non-fiction. It probably has table after table of staff recommendations, and a bright, friendly and knowledgeable staff to go along with them. Is it big enough to have lots of options but small enough to feel intimate and cozy? Is it bathed in glossy pinewood and warm golden light? Does it host authors big and small? Always make you feel welcome but never bothers you while you're browsing? Now open your eyes, get on the subway, and head to Three Lives.
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Review from Li M.
New York, NY
10/9/2005
Three Lives and Company is the shop around the corner. It is a wonderful little bookshop where you will always end up in an intriguing conversation with a stranger. The staff is brilliant and knows everything. They specialize in Women's Lit. but have a good selection of other genres as well.
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Review from Astrid V.
Brooklyn, NY
11/23/2010
Cute and cozy. The books are arranged in such a way that you feel drawn to all of them at once. I don't know how they do that.
Listed in: Paper Trail
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Review from Frank H.
New York, NY
3/28/2010
This is an excellent bookstore and the perfect antidote to corporate chains. It has a calm, quiet atmosphere and a great selection of books. Just going in this weekend I found three books that I've never heard of that I instantly wanted. It's also in a great location - there's a dive bar right across the street, so if you're a tippling bibliophile you can get both your fixes at the same time.
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Review from molly d.
New York, NY
6/8/2007
A wonderful classic bookstore filled with treasures. I always find books that I never heard of here as well as books I have always wanted to (or meant to) read. The staff are all intelligent, friendly, and ready to help you if you need it, but they give you space to browse and explore if that is what you want. They are all great readers, of course, so they give great recommendations. I buy all of my books here . I love to buy gifts here as well. They often have book signings. Just a wonderful place and one of my all-time favorite bookstores.
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Review from Jess L.
11/2/2009
This store is so wonderful - it immediately feels like you've walked into someone's personal library. The small of books is so pungent. The lamps give it a personal library feel as well as the wood shelves. The store has an amazing selection of books despite its small size. It has some of the best sellers, whose covers are displayed in the front window, but inside is a much more interesting and unique selection of books. The store seems to specialize in fiction, but there are plenty of nonfiction books as well as specialty books. I think there are a lot of great gift ideas in here, too. Prices are pretty much what you'd expect in an independent bookstore.
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Review from nate r.
New York, NY
1/12/2009
Quaint friendly little place with a smartly chosen selection across genres. Really evokes the village of yore, or what I'd like to think it was.
Listed in: Top of the Lineup
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Review from Jason H.
New York, NY
11/20/2007
Simply one of the best independent bookshops in NYC, if not the best.
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Review from Rachel D.
Los Angeles, CA
4/19/2007
I love ducking into Three Lives on a winter evening, where you can warm up as you leaf through some wonderful book you've never heard of. the cozy space and impeccable selection makes this my favorite bookstore on earth.
Listed in: West Village
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Review from megan c.
New York, NY
12/13/2005 3 photos
Three Lives is just the sort of store that I hope will never close no matter how many superchains try to wipe it out. A pleasant place to buy a novel that will impress other people when they see you reading it. The shop is notable not only for a smart selection of literature, but for a surprisingly busy roster of author events that seem to be quite high-profile despite the place's small size.
Listed in: All By Yourself., Take Your Mom!, Better Than The Strand?!, All Grown Up.
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Review from Jessica G.
Los Angeles, CA
10/25/2007
A perfect bookstore. They have a great selection and most likely you'll walk out with something that you didn't quite expect, but that's the beauty of a perfect bookstore!
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Review from Steven K.
Brooklyn, NY
12/11/2009
Borders, Barnes & Noble, eh... Three Lives & Company, now we're talking. It is like a bookstore from a dream or a film; it is the bookstore we create in our minds. Once inside it is hard not to get taken in by it's beauty, charm, and character. I would not want it to be another inch bigger, it is humbling to have it be so compact and filled with a selection of material that opens the imagination and makes you dig deep into it's shelves. And the staff could have been pulled from characters right from in the famed pages of any of their books. Everything about this shop is memorable and exciting...
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Review from Helena Z.
Brooklyn, NY
7/30/2009
Cute little bookstore with great selection if you're in the West Village.
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Review from Jan-Michael C.
New York, NY
1/4/2008
I was looking for the Lonely Planet for France, and I heard such great reviews about this place, so I went out of my way to check it out. I thought it was very nice and quaint and despite being small, it had a great selection of relevant books. I found my book. I had plenty of time to just sit there and look over it, no one bothered me as me and my friend just sat there looking it over. I ended up buying it despite having to pay full price, which you never have to do anymore for any book thanks to http://Amazon.com. My friend said the salesperson was hitting on me, but I thought he was just being nice.
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Review from Nataloo S.
Brooklyn, NY
3/30/2010 2 Check-ins Here
What a wonderful little bookstore! This is what you want your bookstore to be... A sweet lady at the desk, beautiful wooden bookshelves and even on a corner in the village. I would easily walk the extra three blocks it would take for me to go to Three Lives, then to go to Strand, which is closer.
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Review from Christina M. R.
Long Island, NY
4/8/2007
Save the independent book shops! Sure, that sounds like a cry from the painfully sappy movie You've Got Mail, but it's a valiant cry. That's why everyone should swing by Three Lives. A quaint little shop that has an eclectic collection of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and travel books. The shelves have a little bit of everything and while you may not find many copies of one book, you'll find many different books by various writers. They also have some interesting events every month which means you can get a book signed, meet a writer, and get free cookies, too! The staff is friendly and helpful. They don't mind if you plop down on one of the two benches and thumb through three or thirty volumes for an hour. The only drawback is that you have to navigate the store blindly--a lack of signage as to what's memoir, what's fiction, and what's in between. Though small, Three Lives by far surpasses the B&N a few blocks away.
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Review from Jean H.
New York, NY
4/19/2007
my favorite, with an interesting selection of books, and a great, cozy, small, inviting store layout on a quiet corner in the west village. it's not overwhelming, the owners have great taste, and it just feels like a very literate, curious, unpretentious, quiet little bookshop. i love this place.
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Review from Ursula M.
12/15/2008
exactly what i want in a bookstore. good selection, nice staff and well chosen displays. its not barnes and noble but i would rather go here any day of the week.
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Review from laics c.
San Francisco, CA
10/15/2009
wide selection of books. the staff are cool..
