The Rizzoli bookstore is one of those old school, New York City bookstores with dark wooden bookshelves and hand painted decorations on the ceiling. That is to say, it is a beautiful bookstore.
They carry many books that the Rizzoli publishing house puts out, but also many others. If you are looking for literature in Italian, including children’s books, Italian cookbooks or Italian language learning guides, this is the place to shop. They also have a number of shelves of Italian language magazines that you can’t find most places.
Of course, it isn’t the cheapest bookstore around (would that one carry Italian poetry in the original language?) and I kind of wished I had brushed my hair again before walking in. That said, it is a lovely place to browse and they had a large number of discounted, more affordable books. Considering the high price of imported books, though, their high prices are fairly understandable.