Bad Day at the Bookstore

The lot beside the Brattle Book Shop is one of my favorite old haunts. Rows of outdoor bookstalls, all pretty cheap and sometimes very interesting. In the good old days I spent many an hour lost in the lot, looking for buried treasure. It is usually an island of peaceful contemplation in the mad and vulgar sea of Downtown Crossing. I don't get up that way much anymore, which is something I occasionally regret, but not today. Today a big crane came crashing down in the lot. None of the shoppers or booksellers were injured, but tragically one of the workers in the crane died.