Bookstores in the USA and Canada

CITY LIGHTS PUBLISHERS: Since 1955, independent publishers of cutting-edge literature and books on compelling social and political issues.
CITY LIGHTS BOOKSTORE: Famed San Francisco bookstore is an intellectual Mecca and reader’s pilgrimage, with the best that’s published in a wide range of subject areas.
CITY LIGHTS FOUNDATION: A nonprofit educational and cultural organization with the goal of advancing literacy and the literary art.

261 Columbus Avenue, San Francisco CA 904133
Phone (415) 362 8193, Fax (415) 362 4921
Email to staff@citylights.com On the Internet at http://www.citylights.com/

is an online gallery and store featuring Handmade, Small Press and Unusual Books of Distinction. On the Internet at:
http://www.superlativebooks.com/
Mailing Address:
     PO Box 3003 Kokomo, IN 46904-3003 USA
Shipping Address:
     318 W. Jefferson St. Kokomo IN 46901-1865 USA
Toll Free (US): 1-877-772-3003 / Phone: +1-765-868-3003
email: info@superlativebooks.com

Founded in 1927 by Adrian Gambet and Gordon Cairnie, the original shop stocked mainly private press books, some poetry, and a sampling of avant-garde literature. Frequented over the years by T.S. Eliot, e.e. cummings, Marianne Moore, Charles Olson, Allen Ginsberg, and Donald Hall, the literary tradition became well-established.
      In 1979, the owner, Louisa Solano, developed the store as a showcase for the works of poets. Sponsorship of autograph parties, the founding of The Intercollegiate Undergraduate Poetry Reading (now in its 11th year), the development of a reading series, the annual poetry festival, and the Grolier Poetry Prize Annual (the last three co-sponsored by the Ellen La Forge Memorial Poetry Foundation) bear witness to the mission of the Grolier to develop and further interest in poetry among a wider, more diversified audience.

6 Plympton Street, Cambridge Massachusetts 02138
Near the corner of Massachusetts Avenue, opposite Harvard Yard. Special orders invited — Tel (617) 547 4648

On the Internet at http://www.grolierpoetrybookshop.com/

Email through this link: orders@spdbooks.org,
or call by 1341 Seventh St, Berkeley, CA 94710-1490,
or phone 1-800-869-7553

faster than the Pony Express, at http://www.codysbooks.com in Berkeley, California. e-mail: codysbks@well.com
      If you live in Berkeley or nearby, Cody's will even deliver your books by bicycle messenger. Cody's Books, a 43-year-old Telegraph Avenue institution, and Pedal Express, a bicycle-delivery cooperative, launched a service in December 1998 that promises same-day or next-day book deliveries to customers in Berkeley and the university town's neighboring communities. Now that's service!

at 30 Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, right near Harvard Square. The literary ambience of the nearby alma mater of Ashbery, O'Hara and Creeley and the flavour of their own adopted name hasn't yet prompted them to include “literature” (let alone “poetry”) in their catalogue subject headings. Still, they boast two and a half million books, and the casual tire-kicker is sure to find something interesting by searching under a favourite author's surname. At... http://www.wordsworth.com Tel. (617) 354-5201 or 1-800-899-2202, e-mail to orders@wordsworth.com

at http://www.booksmith.com or at 1644 Haight St, San Francisco CA 94117, just across the street from Bruno's Zam Zam bar at 1633. Booksmith employee Thomas Gladysz (photo, below, by John Tranter, San Francisco 1991) also edits an Internet poetry magazine — check it out at the Booksmith Reader

no Batman, no Robin, nothing so flash as an Internet site or an email address. Don't they want to sell books? Founded on the first day of 1920 by Frances Steloff — in New York City at 41 West 47th Street, New York City, NY 10036. Ah — they have installed the telephone! (212) 719 4448. See below.

Gotham Book Mart, 9 November 1948 —
reception for Dame Edith and Sir Osbert Sitwell, seated, centre

— they say they have the “lowest prices in the known universe”. Try them and see... at http://www.books.com

Vancouver, Canada, at http://www.blacksheepbooks.com
...a small funky independent bookstore specializing in contemporary and alternative works of fiction, poetry, social criticism, and film. The website features selections from the work of featured poets and writers, news items related to literary issues, reviews, and a searchable catalogue of many of their titles. Prices quoted are in Canadian dollars.

http://www.rcnv.org/rcnv/store/index.htm
Resource Center for Nonviolence
515 Broadway, Santa Cruz, California 95060
phone 831-423-1626, fax 831-423-8716, email at mailto:bookstore@rcnv.org
OPEN Monday–Friday 12–5, Saturday 12–4. Volunteer staffed.

in Portland, Oregon, at http://www.powells.com
... the largest independent new and used book store in the world (it occupies a whole city block, and is three stories high) — worth a look.

Specializing in the Beat Generation
& the San Francisco Renaissance
at http://www.emptymirrorbooks.com/links.html list dozens of sites relating to Kerouac, Michael McClure, the Naropa Institute, and other Beat inspirations.
Empty Mirror Books
P.O. Box 972, Mukilteo, WA 98275 USA