They now frame the windows of Coliseum Books.

The knowledgeable staff and the unusually large selection of books were the main attractions at Coliseum Books, regular customers said.

The people talk and laugh under the rinky-dink yellow letters that say "Coliseum Books."

"It's absolutely impossible," said George Leibson, an owner of Coliseum Books.

The place of choice was Coliseum Books (b. 1974, d. 2002, re-b.

Come to think of it, Coliseum Books is something of a wanderer itself.

In midtown, Coliseum Books at 57th and Broadway has a problem in common with many other stores.

For Coliseum Books, a Manhattan bastion of independent bookselling since the early 1970's, the curtain is apparently closing on a second and final act.

The final word is coming for Coliseum Books, the Manhattan book bazaar now being picked clean by technology, taste and time.

Coliseum Books' final day of business was Saturday, January 6, 2007.