Robert Pinsky
Former U.S. poet laureate.
The New Deal Fish Market, in Cambridge, Mass., is a neighborhood business that also excels: it is the best and does not need any flash or crowing. The wild mussels cost a third of what the cultivated ones at fancy stores cost, and they taste better. The sushi-grade tuna is heavenly. This uncosmetic storefront with its interior treasures reminds me of the little corner stores of childhood, where we got penny candy, sodas, and such: small, plain, mysteriously loaded with desirable goods.
Andrei Codrescu
National Public Radio commentator and novelist. His most recent book is Casanova in Bohemia.
Faulkner House Books is to New Orleans what Shakespeare & Company is to Paris, City Lights is to San Francisco, and the 8th Street Bookshop (RIP!) used to be to New York City. Located in the house where a 27-year-old William Faulkner wrote his first novel, Soldiers' Pay, between prolonged debauches with women and whiskey, this unique bookstore provides a literary salon, a place for writers to drop by and exchange gossip, and a superb selection of books slanted toward contemporary southern writers. The benevolent deity behind this den of intimate literariness is Joe DeSalvo, who gave up a successful law career to realize his dream bookstore. He and his wife, Rosemary, are the cofounders of a society that sponsors a Faulkner festival, an exquisite five-day literary party held in December each year. Both the bookstore and the fest are known among gourmands as nodules radiating intelligence and joie de vivre. I only hope that Joe and Rosemary will still speak to me now that I've revealed their elegant and quasi-secret business to the masses.
Robert B. Parker
Mystery writer. His most recent books include Potshot and Widow's Walk.
My favorite small business is a women's clothing store called Susanna, in Cambridge, Mass. I don't know very much about women's clothing and rarely wear it. But my wife, Joan, does. And when it's time for a gift, which is often, I can count on Susanna not only to have something that Joan will like but also to pick it out, know her size, suggest appropriate accessories ("These red-leather gloves will go perfectly"), gift-wrap it (complete with bow), and bring it to my house. Many Christmases, anniversaries, birthdays, and affectionate impulses have been fully realized with none of the fashion gaffes I would inevitably have committed had I done my shopping unattended. God bless you, Susanna.
Nora Roberts
Best-selling romance novelist. Her most recent book is Three Fates.
Turn the Page Bookstore Cafe is a charming establishment in the rural town of Boonsboro, Md., where I live. The store resides in a pre-Civil War town house right on Main Street. There's a wonderful covered front porch with a bench so that customers can sit and read while the traffic -- such as it is -- goes by. Inside are tables where customers drink fancy coffee while they read, sofas where they relax and sometimes nap, and a nook where kids play. The staff is warm and friendly. But there's one more reason why Turn the Page is my primary source of books. The owner is handsome and sexy and lets me take all the books I want on the barter system. All I have to provide in return is a hot meal or a romantic interlude. It's a pretty good deal from my standpoint, and very handy, since I'm married to him.
Edward O. Wilson
Harvard entomologist and ecologist and winner of two Pulitzer Prizes. His most recent book is The Future of Life.
Once or twice a week I go to the Wales Copy Center in Lexington, Mass., where I photocopy manuscripts and letters and send faxes. The manager, Karen Packard, has been there for 27 years, and she and her assistant are superfast, superefficient, and superfriendly. The store offers a variety of services, such as preparing special stationery and advising customers on invitations for weddings and other occasions. But what really makes it notable is Ms. Packard, who seems to know everybody in town.
It's such a cheerful place -- you wouldn't expect having a manuscript copied to be an enjoyable experience, but Karen Packard makes it one. Wales has the spirit of an old-time general store. All it lacks is a cracker barrel.
Donald Westlake
Mystery writer and Academy Award-nominated screenwriter. His books include Bad News and The Hot Rock.
Across the road from the place in upstate New York where I mostly live are friends named Carol Smillie and Walter Kisly. Walter is a carpenter and construction man. Until 1994, Carol was a consultant with a financial-services firm, specializing in retirement plans. When a wave of downsizing made her job so intolerable it was giving her nightmares, she reluctantly quit and looked around for something else. She took a temporary job at a local garden shop.
Walter, meanwhile, had started making coffee tables using copper-tube bases and stone or glass tops. He got some sales, but the business wasn't taking off. Carol found the copper-construction idea interesting and used it to design garden trellises -- graceful, sturdy shapes with patina. The trellises were well liked, and that business did take off.
