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"This is the hipster hangout and ultimate beat connection. Located in San Francisco's North Beach area, the shop is saturated with the spirit of all the writers who have ever spent time there. When you're there, you can feel the presence of Neal Cassidy, Jack Kerouac, and the whole beat scene... a living history which permeates the place.
"When I lived in San Francisco during the 1960s, City Lights (owned and operated by Lawrence Ferlinghetti) was the place where one could find all the small press limited editions and obscure hardbacks by non-mainstream writers. In the basement room there was a table and chairs where people could sit and write (or read). It's fun to imagine how many poems and literary ideas were hatched there.
"It is also the home of City Lights Books, which achieved notoriety through the publication and subsequent police seizure of Howl by Allen Ginsberg.
"One of my all-time favorite book shops." --Henry W.Targowski.
Highly recommended.
physical location:
City Lights
261 Columbus Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94133
U.S.A.
Opening times:
City Lights Website
City Lights
(news about recent City Lights publications... uncertain if still a working link)
(finally, City Lights has its own webpages... great stuff)