Copenhagen Bookstores

Those expecting Borders-sized book palaces in a small European capital will, of course, be disappointed by what Copenhagen has to offer: a numerically small reading public and expensive real estate adds up to a landscape that has more in common with those tiny WaldenBooks locations we all remember from the 1980s than the Barnes & Nobles that dot most large American cities today. For context, a well-selling book here is measured by perhaps 3,000 copies. But despite the miniscule size and limited selection of new book stores, the used bookstores which line Fiolstræde off Nørreport offer a welcome contrast in terms of both size and ambiance.

Here, the café at Paludan played host to me reading Pablo Llambí­as' Rådhus, a hybrid work of sociological fiction which begins from the conceit of photographing all 275 of Denmark's town halls (rådhus).