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What a delightful article. On my first visit to City Lights I bought a copy of Ferlinghetti’s “A Coney Island if the Mind” and a copy of Dharma Bums (Kerouac’s
by sswaner 8y ago
What a delightful article. On my first visit to City Lights I bought a copy of Ferlinghetti’s “A Coney Island if the Mind” and a copy of Dharma Bums (Kerouac’s best book). I didn’t really know what Lawrence looked like (pre-internet days). I asked how often he came into the book store, the clerk said: “He is upstairs now”. I walked up that narrow wooden staircase, looked at him, he looked at me. I said “hi”, he smiled, I left. Really,really wish I had been brave enough to say more. Hadn’t realized it was him when I went up there before and picked out one of his books.
- mykowebhn 8y agoCity Lights is one of my favorite bookstores anywhere, and I feel its fiction collection is second to none. There are a handful of novels I use to judge how broad (and good) a bookstore's fiction collection is. Hermann Broch's Sleepwalkers, Robert Musil's A Man Without Qualities, and Witold Gombrowicz's Ferdydurke. I would say 90 percent of the bookstores out there would not have any of these three books in stock, and certainly not Barnes & Noble. The last time I checked, City Lights had all three in stock.
- soccernee 8y agoThanks for sharing. Just wanted to add that I too think Dharma Bums is Kerouac's best book, I really enjoyed reading every page.