New York City is a place known for its wonder and bustle, but it also has some interesting easter eggs in its corners. During Spring Break, I had the wonderful chance to visit the city with my family, see iconic sights, such as the Empire State Building and the Rockefeller Center, and do the usual activities, like eating New York pizza and walking with purpose and limited eye contact. While I was exploring the concrete jungle, I found out that the bookstore featured in the hit Netflix show “You” is actually a real place located on the Upper East Side. Called Logos Bookstore (in real life), it was mainly used for B roll and outside scenes, but the inside of the bookstore was just a set. Now after finishing the second half of season four a week prior, I’d figured that I could pay a visit while I was in the city.
After walking over thirty blocks and a three-minute train ride, we finally made it. There were a ton of flyers posted on the front windows, but nothing that promoted the show. Joe Goldberg probably wouldn’t approve of the posters, but thankfully this is not his store (or his reality) to mess with. Inside, it was very cramped, but it had a cozy feeling, with old wooden bookshelves bursting with books of all genres. A spotted cat prowled around the shelves, and only two employees were present, one at the register and one in the back, with both being equally welcoming.
As I browsed the shop, I noticed that the register held all of the You promotions, displaying the two latest novels of the book series (Hidden Bodies and You Love Me). The first book wasn’t there, and the employee at the counter explained that they were out of stock but could make a special order for it. Of course, I didn’t take that offer since I lived over a thousand miles away.
I went deeper into the store, and I eventually selected two books to buy: A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara (since it takes place in New York) and Desperate Characters by Paula Fox (the book that Beck, Joe’s first love interest, buys in the pilot episode). Before making my purchase, my dad had jokingly asked if there was a cage in their basement. The counter employee claimed that there was a small basement but no cage whatsoever. After paying, we made our exit, with me holding my books in hand (they didn’t provide a bag, but I won’t complain).
While this is probably the only time I’ll ever see Joe’s bookstore in real life, it may not be the last time that we see it on the show. In the last few minutes of season four, Joe admitted to an interviewer that he had bought a bookstore in New York as a way to restart his chaotic life. He didn’t go into specifics, but there is a possible chance that the bookstore is the one that he worked at in season one. Now that season five of You is greenlit, Logos Bookstore may get a lot more visitors the form of Netflix viewers.