jason r. raibley : philosophy bookstores

Five Stars:

Seminary Co-op Bookstore
5757 South University Avenue
Chicago, IL 60637
773-752-4381
This sepulchral basement store has, in my opinion, the best philosophy section in America.

Blackwell's – Oxford
48-51 Broad Street
Oxford OX1 3BQ
England
+44-1865-792-792
Also located in the basement, this store's philosophy section is very large. It has been divided into sub-topics (ethics, history, philosophy of mind and language, etc.), which makes it a little easier to browse.

Waterstone's – University College London
82 Gower Street
London WC1E 6EQ
England
+44-0207-636-1577
Not to be outdone by Blackwell's, the folks at Waterstone's have stocked a section so large that it takes up multiple rooms. This is allegedly the largest academic bookstore in Europe, to boot (it's four floors, plus a basement, and takes up half a city block). Don't miss the numerous philosophy-related sections scattered around the third floor (history and philosophy of science, political economy, philosophy of language & linguistics, etc.).

Book Culture
536 W. 112th Street (between Broadway & Amsterdam)
New York, NY
212-865-1588
This is the best philosophy section in the City, and probably the second best in America. You should bring some Advil® to alleviate the neckaches that will come from straining to see titles on the seventh shelves of these narrow stacks.

Librairie Philosophique J. Vrin
6 Place de Sorbonne
Paris, France 75005
This store has been recommended to me by a very trustworthy friend. He said that it was "absolutely bad-ass," completely stocked with all kinds of philosophy in all different languages. With oil prices the way they are, it will be a while before I get to visit.

Four-and-a-half Stars:

The Harvard Bookstore
1256 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
800-542-READ
I think that this is the best philosophy section in Boston. It is very reliable for all the standard titles and has especially good offerings in the history of philosophy.

Athenaeum
Spui 14-16
Amsterdam 1012 XA
Nederlands
+31-20-622-62-48
Many books at this store are in Dutch, but the excellent philosophy section is mostly in English. They stock surprisingly hardcore analytic metaphysics and philosophy of language sections, and good history titles, too. They also have a substantial number of books in German and French. (Also check out the American Book Center.)

Four Stars:

Librairie Olivieri
5219 Côte-des-Neiges
Montreal, Quebec H3T 1Y1
514-739-3639
Most books at this smaller store are in French, but the very good philosophy section is mostly in English. Though not as large a selection as you will find in some stores, the ratio of interesting books is higher: I have found numerous rarely-seen analytic scholarly titles, here. They always have all the latest releases, as well. I have recently been reassured by a Montreal friend that it still exists, despite being somewhat invisible on the web.

The Coop at Harvard Square (Barnes and Noble)
1400 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02238
617-499-2000
This store boasts an interesting main hall and a competent staff. It is also fun to look at the Harvard people. They are sooo cute! But don't try to use your Barnes and Noble card, here. Be ready to pay full price. (Or, check out the Harvard Bookstore up the street, which does have a discount program. If they don't have what you want, you can always come back here, later.)

UW Seattle ("U-Dub") Bookstore
4326 University Way N.E.
Seattle, WA 98105
800-335-READ
The University of Washington bookstore has an excellent ancient philosophy section. It is a reliable source for classic and contemporary titles. The political theory offerings also seem to be above average.

Penn Bookstore (Barnes and Noble)
Sansom Common
3601 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104-3895
215-898-7595
Maybe this store is really more like a "3 1/2" stars. It has a respectable selection of standards and a better-than-average selection of analytic titles.

Three Stars:

Vroman's Bookstore
695 East Colorado Blvd.
Pasadena, CA 91101
626-449-5320
This is probably my favorite bookstore, all things considered, in the L.A. area.

Sidenote on bookstores in L.A.: Don't get your hopes up: if you're used to Book Culture or the Seminary Co-Op, no store in L.A. is going to measure up. This is not a city where people read (it ranks 60th in the United States for book consumption according to one study). The only new independent bookstore in the city in ten years (Dutton's of Beverly Hills) went out of business a few months back. Apparently, not even the idle rich in Beverly Hills are curious enough to crack open a book! The only large used bookstore in the city has now also closed.

Anyway: the philosophy section at Vroman's is not huge, but there always seem to be some nice surprises.

USC Bookstore
840 Childs Way
Los Angeles, CA 90089
213-740-0066
This is probably the best L.A. bookstore for analytic philosophy titles. They also have a good history section. (I should say that the UCLA Store is okay, too, as is the UC Irvine Bookstore down in "the OC." Barnes and Noble has two decent stores, one in Santa Monica and one at The Grove.)

Black Oak Books
1491 Shattuck Ave.
Berkeley, CA
510-486-0698
This is the best store remaining in the Bay Area, at least to my knowledge (although also check out Moe's [below] and City Lights Books). Black Oak features both new and used books. The used books are extremely expensive, but the selection is good.

Moe's Books
2476 Telegraph Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94704
510-849-2087
This store features both used and new books. The continental section is particularly impressive.

The Tattered Cover
2526 East Colfax Avenue
Denver, CO
303-322-7727
This store has been recommended to me by several reliable sources. I look forward to visiting it, soon. They also have locations at 628 16th Street in downtown Denver and at 9315 Dorchester Street in the Highlands Ranch Town Center.

Powell's City of Books
1005 W Burnside
Portland, OR 97209
503-228-4651
Odds are, you don't need me to tell you about the famous Powell's bookstores in Oregon. They sell new and used books, and they often stock interesting philosophy titles. Things are a little unpredictable, here. I probably prefer the Hawthorne Blvd. location.

Munro's Books
1108 Government Street
Victoria, BC V8W1Y2
1-888-243 2464
A great bookstore with a nice philosophy section and an excellent fiction / literature section.

Paragraphe (Archambault)
2220 av. McGill College
Montreal, Quebec
514-845-5811
An English-language Montreal bookstore near McGill University with good offerings in political philosophy, ethical theory, and continental philosophy.

World's Biggest Bookstore (formerly Coles, now a Chapters/Indigo Store)
20 Edward Street
Toronto, Ontario M5G1C9
416-977-7009
This store is definitely not the world's biggest bookstore, seeing as the Gower St. Waterstone's (London) and Barnes and Noble's at Union Square (New York) are both much bigger. Oh well, it's a very big bookstore for Canada. If they don't have anything interesting, you might trek up to Bloor Street to go to the big Chapters, but don't get your hopes up.

Amherst Books (formerly Atticus / Albion)
8 Main St.
Amherst, MA  01002
413-256-1547
The owners at Amherst Books are very friendly. There is a special discount for 5 Colleges students and teachers, and they have a very solid philosophy section, with extensive analytic, continental, and historical offerings. Their linguistics, critical theory, and politics sections are not bad, either!

Olsson's
1307 19th St., NW
Washington, DC 20036
202-785-1133
Though the selection is small, there is no junk. This was the best that I found in the D.C. area. Also check out Kramerbooks, which is a great store with another smallish philosophy section.

The Yale Bookstore (Barnes and Noble)
77 Broadway
New Haven, CT 06511
203-777-8440
A semi-reliable source for standard texts.

St. Mark's Bookshop
31 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10003
212-260-7853
There are good continental and history offerings, here, though they're weaker on mainstream analytic philosophy. But if you need to pick up Deleuze's commentary on Hume's Treatise and browse some ultrahip art books, this is the place.