After a long day at work or a lazy afternoon at home, many of us seek solace and distraction in a place where the magical combination of comfort, familiarity, and good company transform an ordinary hangout into our special third place. In his landmark work, The Great Good Place, Ray Oldenburg identified, portrayed, and promoted those third places. Now the time has come to celebrate the many third places that dot the American landscape and foster civic life.

Celebrating the Third Place brings together nineteen firsthand accounts by proprietors of third places, as well as appreciation by fans who have made spending time at these establishments a regular part of their lives. The scope of places profiled - from an historic tavern in Washington, D.C., and a garden shop in Massachusetts to a coffeehouse in North Carolina and a bookstore in Michigan - make Celebrating the Third Place a must-read for everyone who has or wants a third place they can call their own.