It's hard not to feel ripped off when you go into the Penn Bookstore to buy Hamlet (which you know you already own at home anyway) and find all the used copies gone, forcing you to pay the full $10 for a play you probably already know by heart. Trading books on websites like Penndeck.com is fine, but probably not worth the five or ten bucks you'll save, so you end up buying your books at that intolerable Penn-infested Bookstore and getting suckered into a Wharton fun pack, complete with t-shirt, Nalgene and pencil, thinking, of course, that it says The College on it.
In going to the Last Word Bookshop, one can easily avoid all of the shortcomings of the Penn Bookstore. Conveniently located on 39th and Walnut, the no-fuss bookstore has a broad collection of gently-used books sold at a very fair half of the cover price. The roomy store has a cozy atmosphere, with couches in the back on which you can sprawl out and relax. The books are arranged in various categories and are easily located, with enough copies to satisfy everyone taking Shakespeare 101. Scan some of the shelves to find old leather-bound copies of classics from Dickens to James. While you may already own a copy of these books, everything looks cooler when it could've come from Grandma's basement, so purchasing one of these reasonably-priced antiques is recommended.
Friendly owner Larry Maltz is happy with the two-and-a-half year old store, which serves local West Philadelphians, rare-book collectors visiting town, and Penn students alike. He is proud of its spaciousness, stating "I didn't want one of those small, poorly lighted spaces where you can't find anything." In this goal he has succeeded, as the store resembles an independent bookstore more than a used one, since it lacks the smell of an old attic most have come to expect from vintage shops of all kinds.
Be warned, however, that shopping at the Last Word also has its dangers. While you won't impulse-buy the Burt's Beeswax lip balm at the Bookstore's counter, you may find yourself buying a tattered copy of an old comic, or the latest installment of Shopgirl, not because you want or need it, but because it's there -- and it's cheap.
Compulsive shopping aside, the Last Word presents an alternative to the crowded, expensive Bookstore, and may just be your own way of sticking it to the man.
