A Review of City Lights Bookstore

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261 Columbus Ave., San Francisco, CA

City Lights has loomed large in my literary memory for decades, and as far as bookshop hunting goes it has been a sort of great white whale for me, waiting out beyond the horizon for some future visit. Well, this autumn I finally had the opportunity to stop in and wander the same aisles so many of my early literary inspirations roamed and see the impressive space for myself. And what can I say about this shop that hasn’t already been said by countless others? It’s legendary for a reason, not the least of which their extensive, wide-reaching selection over multiple floors.

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A Bookshop Interview with Robert Vaughan

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I remember sharing a stage with Robert Vaughan in 2014, connected by our mutual friend Bud Smith at a reading hosted by the late-great Chuck Howe at Jimmy’s 43 in NYC. It was a fantastic night of poetry shop talk, travel stories, and drinks with far-flung friends, and that kind of poetic camaraderie is what I think of when I think of Robert Vaughan, who is one of the hosts for a workshop series called Bending Genres, as well as the author of the stunning poetry collection Askew (Cowboy Jamboree Press). You can find more info about Robert and his many projects and books at his website, but I asked him about his favorite bookshop and I’m not at all shocked by his answer. I was just there myself and I can attest, this is the place to be.

Favorite Bookshop: City Lights Bookstore, San Francisco, CA

1. How did you discover the shop, and what do you remember about your first experience there?

I remember hearing about (reading about?) City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco way before I physically visited it in the middle 1980s. It had history, the Beat Poets, and the West Coast Avant Garde. I love its North Beach location, and turning on new friends to this motherlode.

2. Does the shop have a particular vibe, theme, or atmosphere that stands out?

The Vibe is somewhat hip, but filtered down since its essence, I mean how could a Bookstore that opened in 1953, not have morphed over the years? For a closer look at its rich history and why I adore it so much: https://citylights.com/our-story/bookstore-tour/

3. What books have you bought there in the past?

Anais Nin’s Journals, The Journal of Albion Moonlight by Kenneth Patchen, The Waves by Virginia Woolf, Kathy Acker books, Junky and Naked Lunch by William Burroughs, The Thief’s Journal by Jean Genet, Just Kids by Patti Smith, The Rainbow Stories by William Vollmann, Girl With The Curious Hair by David Foster Wallace, An Angel at My Table by Janet Frame, and many, many more!

4. What part of the shop would we find you hanging out in the most? 

The fiction is on the main floor, but I also love and revere the poetry room upstairs (used to be the basement), and the current basement, which houses CNF, and often has unknown or indie authors. Part of why I adore this bookstore is their unfailing support of all authors, famous or not.