The New Yorker
September 2, 2019
In an illustrated feature entitled New York: En Español, artist Jenny Kroik mentions the Spanish Advanced Beginner class she is taking at Idlewild and calls our instructor Eduardo (Lalo) Pavez “a wonderful teacher.”
The Washington Post
February 18, 2016
A tour of New York’s specialty bookstores includes Idlewild, where the reporter “found a spirited Spanish class being conducted in the front window area overlooking the street…. As the group chatted energetically, I browsed the excellent selection of travel guides, global literature and children’s books in English, French and Spanish.”
Monocle
May 2015
The global magazine includes Idlewild in its 25/25 travel feature on places not to miss in New York.
New York Magazine
March 12, 2012
Idlewild’s language classes are included in NY Mag’s “Best of New York” issue. The annual roundup cites our “chatty and conversational” classes taught in a “sunny storefront” by “gregarious native speakers” and concludes that “if you need to hold your own at a party in Paris, Idlewild takes the gâteau.”
Financial Times
February 10, 2012
Idlewild’s new Brooklyn satellite makes the list of the FT’s five “favourite foreign-language bookshops” in the world. The new branch is “in Cobble Hill, known for its burgeoning population of novelists and French families. The shop is filled with novels in Spanish, French and Italian, with a wall of children’s books.”
New York Magazine
January 22, 2012
The magazine welcomes the opening of Idlewild’s second store, in Brooklyn: “In addition to more than 5,000 foreign-language novels, comics, and children’s books, the next-door storefront offers language classes.”
The New Yorker
May 31, 2010
Patricia Marx writes that “Idlewild Books, a shop specializing in travel and international literature, is a treat, even if the only expedition you plan to take is up the stairs to this mezzanine-level shop.” The feature article about graduation gifts goes on to say, “a nifty gift for anyone going on a pre-adulthood trip is a ‘destination kit’ – a selection of fiction, nonfiction, and guidebooks tailored to the recipient’s interests, reading preferences, and travel style.”
Everett Potter’s Travel Report
March 15, 2010
Travel guru and syndicated columnist Everett Potter interviews owner David Del Vecchio and says, “Idlewild Books is probably the best travel bookshop I’ve ever had the luck to visit.”
The Huffington Post
February 17, 2010
Owner David Del Vecchio contributes a column about literature in translation.
Los Angeles Times
October 30, 2009
Terri Colby, in a literary tour of Manhattan, names Idlewild her “favorite Manhattan bookstore” because the store “shares [her] passion for combining literature and travel.”
NY1
July 19, 2009
Valarie D’Elia invites viewers of her popular TV feature “Travel with Val” to “travel the world without leaving your beach chair” with five summer reading picks in a segment filmed at Idlewild Books. Val has also taken several of our Italian classes.
USA Today
May 19, 2009
AP Travel Editor Beth Harpaz writes about Idlewild’s personalized customer service, including its popular Destination Kits, “a selection of books [on a particular country or city] tailored to individuals.”
Bookslut
November 2008
Gili Warsett interviews Idlewild owner David Del Vecchio about the store’s founding, the American market for literature in translation, and his favorite novels about New York City.
New York Magazine
December 14, 2008
The Strategist feature “Ask a Shop Clerk” profiles store owner David Del Vecchio, who answers questions about his previous career and favorite travel books.
The New Yorker
November 24, 2008
In a Book Bench profile, Vicky Raab writes that “Idlewild could be considered the Murray’s Cheese of bookstores. Catering to the taste of literary travellers, books are organized by country, with guidebooks, nonfiction, and fiction served together, the way they should be, like cheese and crackers.” She goes on to describe the store’s whimsical book recommendations and customized gift packs, and concludes by raving about our “frequent book parties that pair readings with appropriate alcoholic beverages and cultural stimulants.”
The New York Times
October 5, 2008
A profile in the Sunday Travel section describes the store, where “in a cozy mezzanine-level space, the classic travel texts of guidebooks, maps and phrasebooks are grouped with literary fiction, memoirs and spy thrillers – books that, at first glance, might not be what the average traveler would think about packing in her suitcase. But as you thumb your way through the shelves, a certain logic begins to emerge. In the India section, “A Suitable Boy” by Vikram Seth shares space with “A Passage to India” by E.M. Forster, “Eat Pray Love” by Elizabeth Gilbert, and “The Complete Illustrated Kama Sutra.”
Travel + Leisure
October 2008
Ed Navotka describes Idlewild as “an oasis for travelers” and asks owner David Del Vecchio to name five of his favorite travel-oriented titles.
New York Magazine
September 2008
Idlewild is named a “Critics’ Pick” in the magazine’s online shopping directory. Lauren Murrow describes the space (a “spacious second-floor shop in the elegant former parlor floor of an elegant 1880s-era home”), furnishings (“the chairs are salvaged from the old American Airlines international terminal, as is the slab of stained glass behind the register”), and selection, and explains the store’s name (“the pre-1963 moniker of JFK Airport.”)
Manhattan Users Guide (MUG)
August 7, 2008
The daily e-newsletter for NYC insiders notes the opening of Idlewild in its weekly Up Next section. (In an event listing a couple months later, MUG calls us its “favorite new bookstore.”)
The New York Sun
August 4, 2008
Marisa Kabas describes the just-opened store and interviews David Del Vecchio about how travelers are adjusting to the tough economy.
Time Out Magazine
July 2008
The NYC listings bible features Idlewild in its Seek section and names it a Critics’ Pick.
World Hum
July 24, 2008
Kelly Amabile interviews owner David Del Vecchio about his career with the United Nations and the founding of the store.
