Open List Home > San Francisco, CA > book stores > City Lights Bookstore
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This little piece of history was founded by Lawrence Ferlinghetti as an outgrowth of his small-press imprint, which introduced us to Allen Ginsburg, Jack Kerouac and most gloriously, Frank O'Hara. Now a North...
citysearch.com - expert review - 11/20/2006
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3.0 of 5 stars.
In this day and age of Amazon.com I never buy books at bookstores (unless it is in an airport) so I am rating this on for the staff/atmosphere. Staff was super nice, all very young. Atmosphere was…
yelp.com - user review - 07/05/2008
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1.0 of 5 stars.
There's a review from earlier in the year, rather succinct, where-in the gal who wrote it defined the staff at City Lights in one word: Heathens. It's a nice space. The architecture is nice and the…
yelp.com - user review - 07/04/2008
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5.0 of 5 stars.
Lawrence Ferlinghetti: I was surprised when your friends helped you stand up to the podium in discomfort after being huddled and rolled in a wheelchair. You could have been ailing when you relied on…
yelp.com - user review - 06/30/2008
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5.0 of 5 stars.
What a cool bookstore. I'm not even a reader, but so many in the selection piqued my interest. If only there was a bookstore like this in Chicago............
yelp.com - user review - 06/18/2008
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5.0 of 5 stars.
I feel smarter just being in this bookstore. What a wonderful, eclectic collection. Their window displays can't be beat...they draw me into the store like a siren song. Whoever is in charge of…
yelp.com - user review - 06/12/2008
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5.0 of 5 stars.
If I lived around this area - I would have gone BANKRUPT because I love this bookstore! Everytime I come here, usually with my out of town friend in tow, I always end up buying book(s) - usually…
yelp.com - user review - 06/09/2008
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5.0 of 5 stars.
Great independent bookstore with incredible selection. And it is a literary landmark! I know that if I'm looking for any book on Kerouac, Ginsberg, Burroughs and the gang, I can easily find it there.…
yelp.com - user review - 06/09/2008
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5.0 of 5 stars.
The Holy Grail of independent bookstores. If it's been published and still in print, the staff at City Lights will find it for you. Odds are they have it in stock. Every time I go in, I end up buying…
yelp.com - user review - 06/05/2008
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5.0 of 5 stars.
The finest bookstore on the west coast. Purveyors of radical leftist literature, art and political magazines, and a wide variety of new and old fiction and non-fiction books. City Lights is…
yelp.com - user review - 06/05/2008
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2.0 of 5 stars.
I feel bad giving this place a review that's not very good. But, I always found it to be pretentious. Yesterday, that point was driven home to me. As soon as I walked in, the unpleasant gentleman…
yelp.com - user review - 06/04/2008
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5.0 of 5 stars.
they redid their floors, which probably needed to be done, but ever since then, it seems to have lost a bit of charm for me. especially upstairs in the poetry room. y'know... but i still like to go up…
yelp.com - user review - 05/26/2008
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5.0 of 5 stars.
go to the top floor and look for ferlinghetti. his imprint is everywhere down to the fact that paperbacks are sold here, the very thing he at one time championed. excellent selection of books, of…
yelp.com - user review - 05/17/2008
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5.0 of 5 stars.
I get the goose bumps out of excitement that begin while I wait to cross the street to get into City Lights. All those shiny books in the windows begging me to read them can be too much for me to…
yelp.com - user review - 05/15/2008
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1.0 of 5 stars.
A conversation I had at City Lights this afternoon: Me: Where would I find Malcolm Gladwell
yelp.com - user review - 05/11/2008
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5.0 of 5 stars.
Great collection of books, with many floors. A great collection of literature from the Beat generation...and more. A maze of books to choose from. Also located in a great location on Columbus Ave in…
yelp.com - user review - 05/11/2008
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5.0 of 5 stars.
I love city lights....especially the Evidence section in the basement... small section of books from medical curiosities to criminal masterminds....love it love it love it....this section....check out…
yelp.com - user review - 05/10/2008
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5.0 of 5 stars.
Oh sweet baby Jesus do I like this place! I have spent literally hours in this place after work, trying to lose myself in a good book. They have a great selection and the staff have guided me to books…
yelp.com - user review - 04/24/2008
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5.0 of 5 stars.
Great bookstore. They have almost everything as well as local writers and publications. I can easily spend hours in here on a weekend. Sure, may be touristy, but the location suits it. You will surely…
yelp.com - user review - 04/20/2008
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5.0 of 5 stars.
One of my all-time favorite places to spend time. I could browse here for hours - and have sometimes even been known to purchase a book.
yelp.com - user review - 04/11/2008
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5.0 of 5 stars.
2 Stars Taryn G.?! Come on. So what if you were an English major. City Lights is a San Francisco landmark.. Granted many tourists from all over the world pay homage to the beat generation by…
yelp.com - user review - 04/10/2008
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2.0 of 5 stars.
This place was a huge let down for me. As an English major, I found it pretty disappointing that the majority of books in the store were novelty, tourists texts about "beat culture" and other vague…
yelp.com - user review - 04/07/2008
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5.0 of 5 stars.
Drink at Vesuvio's next door, vomit in Jack Kerouac Alley and then pick yourself up some reading material next door at City Lights. Oh yeah, wear a black turtleneck, smoke Gitanes and bring your…
yelp.com - user review - 04/02/2008
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5.0 of 5 stars.
i love this place. the history, the attitude. the selection. It may sacreligious to say so, but ferlingetti always seemed a bit of a hack poetically to me, but he deserves undying praise for city…
yelp.com - user review - 04/02/2008
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This was at the top of our places to visit while we were in town. It wasn't the best experience. After the way the staff treated us, I'd never give them my money. It's a neat store, so it's unforunate that...
citysearch.com - user review - 03/13/2008
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5.0 of 5 stars.
I believe beatniks like Kerouac use to hangout here and then go to Vesuvio's after. Well I did it the other way around. On a drunken escapade, I was determined to buy a book. The result? The Essential…
yelp.com - user review - 03/12/2008
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5.0 of 5 stars.
Definitely my favorite bookstore of all time, with such a great wealth of material for people who think differently. I would kill for someplace like this in DC or VA.
yelp.com - user review - 03/08/2008
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5.0 of 5 stars.
city lights is amazing, walk up the old rickety stairs into the poetry room, read some odes and glance out the window towards the alley and the downtown skyline and dream. ah, i love this city.
yelp.com - user review - 03/08/2008
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5.0 of 5 stars.
It's taken me this long to write a City Lights review? A friend knows when to say when. So where were you, friend? OK, I want to give this place four stars because, deep down, I feel like a tourist…
yelp.com - user review - 03/05/2008
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5.0 of 5 stars.
Okay, so I love bookstores. I seek them everywhere I go, and my favorite of all time in in Paris and I miss it every time I walk into a bookstore. But then I was taken to City Lights. Just as small,…
yelp.com - user review - 02/29/2008
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5.0 of 5 stars.
i love this place so much i want to lick the books.
yelp.com - user review - 02/25/2008
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4.0 of 5 stars.
Of course nothing can compare to Portland's Powell's Books. But this was a pretty cool bookstore in a cool neighborhood. 3 floors of various books on all subjects. Its worth it to check this place…
yelp.com - user review - 02/19/2008
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5.0 of 5 stars.
Once I tried to see if the staff would lock me in overnight if I just hid out upstairs at closing time. A sleepover in Citylights would be the best night of my life. I daydream about trips back to SF…
yelp.com - user review - 02/19/2008
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5.0 of 5 stars.
I would live here if I could.
yelp.com - user review - 02/17/2008
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5.0 of 5 stars.
It is easy to camp out at this bookstore for hours. They have a good selection of books. I have seen some good book and poetry readings by talented artists. I also like the banner outside of the…
yelp.com - user review - 02/16/2008
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5.0 of 5 stars.
This is the best bookstore in San Francisco; it has 4 floors of books, zines and other publications. Great selection, good prices and well organized too. and every now and then they have really…
yelp.com - user review - 02/06/2008
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5.0 of 5 stars.
just an amazing place... 10 stars
yelp.com - user review - 02/03/2008
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5.0 of 5 stars.
"Have a Seat and Read a Book" - can't think of a better theme for a bookstore! I went into City Lights looking for a particular journal and ended up losing a few hours reading random books. They…
yelp.com - user review - 01/20/2008
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5.0 of 5 stars.
You know when you get really excited about something... I mean really really excited, and all of a sudden you have to pee? Yeah, that's me every single time I walk into this place. I love books and…
yelp.com - user review - 01/18/2008
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5.0 of 5 stars.
Probably the most famous bookstore in this town, if not the country. I kind of dig how they separate by author's nationality....it's an interesting way to do it.
yelp.com - user review - 01/13/2008
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5.0 of 5 stars.
City Lights is probably the only literary tourist attraction, but that is a good enough reason to go if you're in the area. Be advised, the only nearby street parking I could find was 30 minutes…
yelp.com - user review - 01/13/2008
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5.0 of 5 stars.
City Lights is one of the main reasons I'm jealous of Bay Area locals. The history, the subversive atmosphere, the irreverence of it all. And the books. Well, I've spent hours, hours just scanning the…
yelp.com - user review - 01/10/2008
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5.0 of 5 stars.
The first time I went to City Lights I probably spent about an hour scanning the shelves, walking up and down the creaking stairs, and salivating over the books. This is the kind of place where you…
yelp.com - user review - 01/09/2008
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5.0 of 5 stars.
This is heaven for book nerds. The quirky featured titles and wide-ranging selection. It was a great little oasis from the tourist madness of Chinatown around the corner. I tried to walk out without…
yelp.com - user review - 01/07/2008
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5.0 of 5 stars.
I won't lie, this was a pretty impressive bookstore. Clearly a non-corporate joint... they pushed sales on some of the more homely type of publications. This it the first place I heard about…
yelp.com - user review - 01/06/2008
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5.0 of 5 stars.
I'm glad they are here. The history of this place helps make San Francisco the unique place that it is. Good selection of certain genres of books. Countercultural, underground, social commentary,…
yelp.com - user review - 01/04/2008
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5.0 of 5 stars.
Everyone has said it before, but it really is a treat to come here. The books alone would have been enough (catch that religious reference), but there's the history, the atmosphere, the whole North…
yelp.com - user review - 12/23/2007
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5.0 of 5 stars.
Just an amazing library...
yelp.com - user review - 12/21/2007
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5.0 of 5 stars.
There is no way to say differently what has been said hundreds of times before. This bookstore is in a class by itself, there is no comparison. My particular interests are philosophy and music and you…
yelp.com - user review - 12/18/2007
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5.0 of 5 stars.
What a bookstore should be. I have been going here since I was a very young child. I remember my father driving me into San Francisco when he decided to go on a field trip, and we would spend hours…
yelp.com - user review - 12/15/2007
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5.0 of 5 stars.
Not only is this the best bookstore in the Bay Area, but they also have a heart. The owners are very kind people who'll let anyone browse at will plus a lot more. During the 60's this was my haven from…
yelp.com - user review - 12/07/2007
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5.0 of 5 stars.
I had low expectations walking into the store--as it's obviously so famous and has a steady flow of tourist traffic due to its history, maybe it would be a great place to snap photographs. But this is…
yelp.com - user review - 11/24/2007
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5.0 of 5 stars.
i salivate over the unique stock . nice press. many titles i covet here. not cheap, but high quality.
yelp.com - user review - 11/23/2007
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5.0 of 5 stars.
Best book store ever period. WTF is wrong with Yelp. This is in North Beach, not Nobb Hill! I've only been to SF 3 times, but even I know that. This the store to go when you don't have a book in…
yelp.com - user review - 11/20/2007
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5.0 of 5 stars.
I have personally found some great rare books here and I did enjoy there "Dissent is not unAmerican" banner.
yelp.com - user review - 11/19/2007
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4.0 of 5 stars.
my second favorite bookshop (behind green apple) - the history does it some justice, and there's also a great selection/wide variety in the books they carry, but the biggest selling point is their…
yelp.com - user review - 11/10/2007
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4.0 of 5 stars.
this is a great little bookstore right in north beach. the staff is helpful, knowledgable, and friendly. this is not only a great location but a great store too. it's filled at the seams with so…
yelp.com - user review - 11/04/2007
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5.0 of 5 stars.
This is a Beat shrine! A classic bookstore filled with great books, many of them obviously from Beat writers and poets. A must go to place when visiting San Francisco. You could spend literally hours…
yelp.com - user review - 10/30/2007
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5.0 of 5 stars.
Historic.
yelp.com - user review - 10/28/2007
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5.0 of 5 stars.
I like to visit City Lights whenever I'm in SF. Especially like the painted outer walls of City Lights. As a poet/writer with a full time professional career doing something totally unrelated, I…
yelp.com - user review - 10/22/2007
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3.0 of 5 stars.
Thank goodness places like this still exist in a day of Borders and Barnes Noble. Sure there doesn't seem to be an organizational system but I always aimlessly wandered around the creaky wooden floors…
yelp.com - user review - 10/18/2007
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5.0 of 5 stars.
YELP for Patrick M
yelp.com - user review - 10/09/2007
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5.0 of 5 stars.
My bookstore of choice. 3 different levels of pretty much everything you could possibly want to read. Lots of magazines, a whole section dedicated to poetry and just an overall chill ass atmosphere…
yelp.com - user review - 10/07/2007
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5.0 of 5 stars.
The tourists suck. The organizational system is a bit wacky and annoying if I'm looking for something specific. But I still love this store. A whole floor of poetry? Sign me up! And all the Zines?…
yelp.com - user review - 09/25/2007
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5.0 of 5 stars.
i followed her closely as she zigzagged through the shelves and then bounded up the stairs of city lights bookstore, gushing about kerouac and ginsberg and the beats, and then falling quiet as we…
yelp.com - user review - 09/16/2007
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2.0 of 5 stars.
Maybe I'm not hip enough, or maybe it's because my Chucks only have one hole. Maybe it's because I wear Chucks. Whatever the reason, every time I've visited City Lights I've been inundated by a tidal…
yelp.com - user review - 09/10/2007
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1.0 of 5 stars.
I swear this bookstore is a front for the newly erected Comintern. Don't be fooled, this is no Strands (for all you New Yorkers). You are better off at Boarders or BN......I know, I know, the…
yelp.com - user review - 08/31/2007
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1.0 of 5 stars.
4 stars? You have got to be freaking kidding me. This store is like a nugget of bad, wrapped in a flaky crust of suck, deep-friend in a vat of crappy. How do I lothe thee? Let me count the ways.…
yelp.com - user review - 08/29/2007
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4.0 of 5 stars.
I first came here when I discovered Kerouac and company in high school, taking the bus from South City. I like it for different reasons now-the translations of books originally in Japanese, Chinese,…
yelp.com - user review - 08/21/2007
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3.0 of 5 stars.
My wife and I have come here three or four times to browse, read, and buy ~$300 worth of books that we thoroughly enjoyed at home and at nearby cafes. Because of these experiences, whenever we visit…
yelp.com - user review - 08/18/2007
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5.0 of 5 stars.
I could rave about the historical significance of this bookstore or... Tell you about the obscure and hard to find books I found here or...
yelp.com - user review - 08/18/2007
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5.0 of 5 stars.
City Lights Bookstore is how I intend to spend my Saturday night. What a great experience it is to throw on my jeans, sneakers, and a sweatshirt on a weekend night and head towards City Lights from my…
yelp.com - user review - 08/18/2007
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5.0 of 5 stars.
Every time I come here, I feel as if I'm rubbing elbows with Ginsberg and Kerouac. It's an experience both humbling and revelatory. I've never felt more like there was so much to know and so much I…
yelp.com - user review - 08/17/2007
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5.0 of 5 stars.
I dont think this place should get anything less than a five star... this is a classic, its probably one of the easiest book stores to navigate, and if you really cant find something then ask and the…
yelp.com - user review - 08/16/2007
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5.0 of 5 stars.
It's a legend. It's in every tourbook. Go anyway. Join their email events list, and cram into the top-level room for a reading.
yelp.com - user review - 08/14/2007
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5.0 of 5 stars.
There are bookstores and then there are Bookstores. Ask the average person on the street what they think of when they hear the word "bookstore", and they'll probably name vapid pulp distribution…
yelp.com - user review - 08/13/2007
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5.0 of 5 stars.
I hated Howl when I first read it. I was a sophomore in college, it didn't make sense, it was too fast too jumbly too crazy and most of all...too LONG! Then I started reading more of this spontaneous…
yelp.com - user review - 08/13/2007
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4.0 of 5 stars.
A jewel box of a book store with a great selection of unique books for both adults and children. A great place to spend a couple of hours on a drizzly day. And when you are done step across the…
yelp.com - user review - 08/09/2007
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5.0 of 5 stars.
Because where else in the world are you going to find an entire section dedicated to commodity aesthetics? (PS - It's in the basement, directly to your right from the stairs. Rah rah!)
yelp.com - user review - 08/08/2007
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4.0 of 5 stars.
As much as I think they deserve 5 stars for their role in SF culture and history, I have one complaint. A year or so ago I was taking a class on environmentally sustainable business. I walked into…
yelp.com - user review - 07/16/2007
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5.0 of 5 stars.
coolest book store ever!
yelp.com - user review - 07/15/2007
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3.0 of 5 stars.
The selection of non fiction hardcovers is amazing. The fiction section is damn good. Downstairs is full of history, music, religion, and philosophy. Their selection of art books is well stocked.…
yelp.com - user review - 07/14/2007
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5.0 of 5 stars.
What can I say about this place that hasn't already been said? There are sooooo many cool books here that you can easily get lost for hours just browsing half of the levels. Aside from the historic…
yelp.com - user review - 07/09/2007
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5.0 of 5 stars.
If it's not enough that this bookstore carries a ton of books not found in so many other locations, consider the historical value of this landmark, and celebrate the brilliance of so many beatniks…
yelp.com - user review - 07/06/2007
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5.0 of 5 stars.
...phantoms & Ferlinghetti
yelp.com - user review - 07/05/2007
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4.0 of 5 stars.
While this isn't Powell's City of Books, this is one helluva bookstore. Aside from the history of this place, it still works. Sure, the bookshelves don't match and the downstairs is literally a…
yelp.com - user review - 06/30/2007
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5.0 of 5 stars.
I can't say enough about one of my favorite places in the entire city. Talk about history . . . the beat poets stood HERE! You can feel the vibe in there, honest you can. THANK YOU for giving the non…
yelp.com - user review - 06/24/2007
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4.0 of 5 stars.
Whether you actually buy something or just browse, this is one of the few remaining classic American independent bookstores. Don't come looking for a bargain or some trash off the Best Seller list;…
yelp.com - user review - 06/18/2007
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5.0 of 5 stars.
A true San Francisco landmark. I used to read lots and lots of Kerouac... and was really really into the literary Beat movement. There's just no way I can rate this book store less that five stars,…
yelp.com - user review - 06/16/2007
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1.0 of 5 stars.
ok so years ago i worked for this retail store who wanted to pay a bill belonging to "city lights" the lighting store downtown. Long story short, the mail brought the check to these clowns at city…
yelp.com - user review - 06/12/2007
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3.0 of 5 stars.
If you're really into the Beat movement, then it goes without saying that a pilgrimage to City Lights is in order. But outside of that limited area of interest, this bookstore really isn't that…
yelp.com - user review - 06/07/2007
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5.0 of 5 stars.
Who ambled down San Francisco streets and alleyways, drunk on Pax Americana and isotope nightmares. Who scratched at the asphalt and concrete of Chinatown; Hello Kitty stings the retinas of Gandhi and…
yelp.com - user review - 05/29/2007
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5.0 of 5 stars.
I really like this bookstore. It's the kind of store that makes you start to feel all sad inside because you realize there are so many good books and you'll never read them all. The shelves are packed…
yelp.com - user review - 05/29/2007
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4.0 of 5 stars.
No dispute about how great this place is and all it stands for....BUT, I have one gripe: The only reason I am not giving 5 stars is because I basically got ripped off the last time I was here. After I…
yelp.com - user review - 04/15/2007
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5.0 of 5 stars.
It's famous. It's necessary.
yelp.com - user review - 04/08/2007
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5.0 of 5 stars.
My FAVORITE BAY Area BOOKSTORE!!! There's not only a PLETHORA of books to choose from --- but the BRAINS you get to pick... such a STUNNING array. There's a whole section dedicated to local…
yelp.com - user review - 04/06/2007
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2.0 of 5 stars.
As much as I respect and admire the history of the place, I generally don't have good experiences with this bookstore. I'm not sure what it is... It's true that it's cramped. It's true that the stacks…
yelp.com - user review - 04/04/2007
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5.0 of 5 stars.
WARNING: This review is being done Laura B. flavour (sorry ladies, but no British accent, it just looks better that way). People, you know what this means. TOO MUCH INFORMATION! Also tangents, rants, &…
yelp.com - user review - 03/14/2007
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4.0 of 5 stars.
Sometimes insecure hippie-types and would-be hippie types send me nasty messages to try and have me delete my reviews. The messages are, without fail, poorly written and stupidly rude; e.g.: "you…
yelp.com - user review - 03/14/2007
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4.0 of 5 stars.
This is not your local Barnes and Noble. You're not going to find the latest chick lit book here. You're not going to disappear into a large arm chair for hours on end. You're not even going to do…
yelp.com - user review - 03/12/2007
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5.0 of 5 stars.
This 3 story mecca should get 5 stars for the history alone...then figure in their awesome selection of books and other publications plus their crazy hours..come aaaaaaaahn. They also happen to have a…
yelp.com - user review - 03/08/2007
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3.0 of 5 stars.
City Lights is an undeniable focal point of San Francisco literary history. They have a wonderful selection of titles, washed in a thick editorial patina. Much more than a commercially-driven…
yelp.com - user review - 03/04/2007
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5.0 of 5 stars.
city lights is like a well-curated music store where everything stocked you'd actually want, only for books. it's great it has survived all these years. they must get some kind of break on their lease…
yelp.com - user review - 03/04/2007
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4.0 of 5 stars.
I kind of feel that a review of this place should be split into two distinct parts: a review of the history of City Lights and the publishing house itself and one of the current store as it is now.…
yelp.com - user review - 03/04/2007
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5.0 of 5 stars.
Lawrence is an old grump, but I love him. We share the same birthday (month & day, not year!) and he writes like a god. Plus, City Lights is such a San Francisco treasure. Wish I had been around at…
yelp.com - user review - 02/21/2007
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5.0 of 5 stars.
Every time I go to City Lights, I lament about seeing Lawrence Ferlinghetti there someday. Today was that day. Granted, it was through the window, and I was outside, while Amiri Baraka was giving a…
yelp.com - user review - 02/19/2007
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5.0 of 5 stars.
This is one of the most phenomenal bookstores I've ever been to. I turned into a Beat junkie last year and went crazy in this store. After that calmed down a bit (I still love Beat lit., I'm just not…
