In Footnotes from the World’s Greatest Bookstores (October 2016, Penguin Random House), illustrator Bob Eckstein speaks to artists and creators then draws and writes about 75 of the most magical bookstores around the world. Below, an excerpt from the book.

Bob Eckstein is a cartoonist based in New York. He has drawn Leonardo DiCaprio and Lady Gaga live at the Golden Globes, illustrated the backstory of eccentric NFL plays, and is working on a fictional diary of Sir John Franklin from 1850. His works have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, and MAD Magazine, among many others.

The Illustrated PEN is an online series that aspires to be at the intersection of literature, journalism, and visual storytelling, where images and words come together in an ever-emerging and essential creative form. We’ll feature fiction and nonfiction graphic narratives, comics journalism and illustrated reportage, stories of social justice and personal stories that can’t be told through words alone.