Books & Bookshelves
99 Sanchez Street
(between 14th St & Duboce Ave)
San Francisco, CA 94114 (415) 621-3761
The other day I found myself dropping into see David Highsmith, poet and entrepreneur of bookshelves in a store that includes lots of fresh raw wood constructions. David smartly tapped into the San Francisco/Castro neighborhood serial appartment dweller need for new shelves,
Sweetly, however, he's created a wonderful bookstore for poetry books - not just poetry books, but volumes of 'old' and new 'avant' presses (whatever that means for whatever era.) He also shops ebay and finds out of print volumes that he resells without upping the price. I stumbled into an English pirate edition of Spicer's After Lorca - a genuine piece of simulacra of Duncan's original typesetting for $20 - if you are interested. Just a lot of stuff - beautifully displayed & presented on fresh bookshelves. (No longer do interesting books remain a critique on Ron Silliman's blook - 'the book made flesh'. The whole place has an attractive, no-pressure retail feel. You can enjoy a book while the occaisonal clientele is talking to David about wood, sizes, and so forth.
In addition, he has a regular reading series, and omens of a new chapbook series. Not to take anything away from City Lights and Green Apple and Bird & Beckett's substantial poetry book sections, as Independent stores become more and more fragile, Books & Bookshelves is a treat.
I suspect David is on the top wave edge of the future. An Independent bookstore that wants to survive will offer a substantial line of bookshelves! Or, as a friend who has a relatively successful and good gallery told me, "It's the framers who make the real money in this business, not the gallery."
So if you live or are in the City for a visit...
Stephen V
http://stephenvincent.net/blog/
Books & Bookshelves
99 Sanchez Street
(between 14th St & Duboce Ave)
San Francisco, CA 94114 (415) 621-3761
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