AROUND TOWN: The Greatest Compliment

I visited The Book Cellar in Lincoln Square yesterday to browse and purchase a couple of books. While I was paying at the register, a customer approached the clerk and asked where the store kept Kurt Vonnegut's books. "We keep them right here," the clerk replied, turned and grabbed a stack of books from the counter behind the register. He handed them to the customer.

"Why do you keep Vonnegut's books behind the counter?" I asked.

"They're the ones most likely to be shoplifted," the clerk replied, then continued ringing up my purchase.

Now that's a compliment. Forget the Nobel. So long, Pulitzer. Your books are most apt to be stolen? Sweet.