Standing proudly on Columbus near the corner of debauchery, City Lights has been defending free speech since 1953. It was a standard stop for the beatniks in the 1960s, and alternative thinkers of today. And who would not stand behind a local, independent bookstore? C'mon.
With all this going for it, I never visited. In eight years of San Francisco residence and hundreds of pass-bys, I was uninspired (and a bit intimidated) to go in. Until today. I was greeted by nooks of books covering gardening to anarchy, with a large fiction section of atypical authors. Actually, no, it's really a large atypical fiction section of authors. Slaughterhouse-Five was mandatory reading in school, but never have I seen Vonnegut's full collection of stories, in triplicate. Same with Hunter S. Thompson, Ken Kesey, and of course, Jack Kerouac.
The shelves of different heights next to stacks of books next to skinny columns morphed browsing into an exploration. It brought electricity back into books and made me wonder at all the knowledge and stories in these shelves. It was hard, but I got away with just one book - a book on writing. Whether you're a reader or a writer, visit your local bookstore and just marvel at the wealth.
City Lights Books
261 Clumbus at Broadway
Wednesday, March 24
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