On a visit to San Francisco, I stopped at the Great Overland Book Co. branch off Union Street, a store where parking is always difficult but it is generally worth the hunt. Overland is a neighborhood store but a high quality one; I bought a run of Hermann Hesse's there once. This time, uncharacteristically, the stock seemed lackluster. Closer examination showed why: the store is closing next month, leaving only one Overland, in Inner Sunset.
Kathy at Book Bay told me that Mcdonalds on Turk Street (better known by its self-description as "a dirty, poor-lit place for books") was also closing. Mcdonalds was in the only part of town that has remained determinedly skanky. Even when you got inside, the smell of piss seemed to trail you. I went once, years ago, and never went back.
Up in Davis, Bogey's Books closed a few months ago when the owner decided he had had enough. An employee wanted to buy it, but was stymied by a rent increase. It was a small but pleasant store full of recent reading copies of serious books.
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