He sold second-hand, fine, and rare volumes in impeccable condition, sponsored readings, as well as mended and cleaned old books.

His standards were exacting, as was his English, and he did not hesitate to tell customers what they must buy or "offer trenchant commentary on politics and the passing scene.

"[2] His tiny store attracted a large following, counting among its patrons writers and bibliophiles such as Eric Bentley, Susan Sontag, Adrienne Rich, and Robert Payne.

It was a "kind of Upper West Side salon that drew literary giants, earnest scholars, and neighborhood eccentrics."

[3][4] In 1986 Carlos Goez sold the Pomander to poet Suzanne Ostro, who eventually was forced to relocate the shop when developers reconfigured West 95th Street.