BOOKS: DOESTOYEVSKY AND A DECAF

Virtual eons ago, when people still socialized over martinis and not via modems, reading was a solitary pastime confined largely to the bedroom and the backyard. Call it a paradox of the online age-or maybe a backlash against it -- but book reading has suddenly gone aggressively public. The old-fashioned bookstore has been transformed into a convivial hang-out spot where customers can get cappucino, conversation, and a cushy chair for perusing the latest Elmore Leonard or the earliest Dostoyevsky.

In a culture where book reading is supposed to be an endangered habit, it is an oddly heartening sight. By the end of the year, the U.S. will have more than 450 sprawling, chain-run book emporiums equipped with reading tables, sofas, club chairs and coffee bars. Well over 100 new ones sprang up in 1994; seven will open this year in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, alone. These superstores, run by such chains as Barnes & Noble, Borders and Media Play, usually stock around 100,000 titles (in contrast to 20,000 for a typical mall store). But the real attraction is the opportunity to cuddle up with your favorite volume for as long as you want. Far from shooing away loiterers, these superstores operate on the philosophy that by creating an inviting atmosphere, they can lure customers who will linger and eventually plunk down their money.

"The important thing these days is to get the customer relaxed," says Wally Vliet, the manager of Media Play in downtown Denver. "A coffee bar helps build traffic. It would be conspicuous by its absence." Leonard Reggio, ceo of Barnes & Noble, pioneered the superstore concept in New York City five years ago and always envisioned it as a local gathering place. "You can't really hang around a Linens 'n Things or a Today's Man," he reasons. "When you go into a bookstore, you are going to meet people like you."

Jack McClintock, a free-lance writer from Miami, understands that motive well. Every afternoon he takes his craving for caffeine and company, along with an unfinished manuscript, to the new Borders in the city's north end. "Bookshops with coffee bars are unlike restaurants, where you can't move around, and libraries, where you can't talk," he explains. Notes Ted Marrone, a Denver superstore habitua: "You can't find a better buy in entertainment." Geoffrey Richards, a Chicago law student, also heads for his neighborhood Borders with more than John Grisham novels on his mind. "Maybe you spot someone looking at a book on Rubens. It's a great, innocent way to meet people."

Those too shy to approach a potentially special someone in the art-history aisle needn't worry though. Superstores increasingly play host to organized social events aimed at enticing lovelorn customers. Singles nights are a staple at many Barnes & Noble stores; the functions may feature a lecture by a romance-novel author or a relationship counselor. Some stores offer chess matches, Scrabble and backgammon games, as well as reading groups and open-mike nights for new poets in search of an audience. Borders stores even feature live bands.