The Monkey's Paw

The Monkey's Paw bookshop is home to the Biblio-Mat, a coin-operated machine that dispenses a random secondhand book with a jangling antique bell. The guide traces how the idea began as a joke about a fake vending machine at a street fair, and how shop owner Stephen Fowler and artist Craig Small turned it into a working contraption. It's built from a salvaged steel office locker, the kind that once held mops and file folders in some forgotten building.