My great grandfather, Fernando Barbero, worked as a stone mason and cement contractor in the SF Bay Area from 1911 to 1924 when he turned his efforts to farming and cattle ranching ob property he purchased in Wilton in the Sacramento Valley two hours from SF. His grandson, my Uncle and Godfather JL Gledhill was an electrical engineer who administrated traffic for SF via CalTrans. When I was 12 years old I spent a week with my Uncle at his apartment on 1610 Taylor Street #1. It's a very steep street, typical for North Beach, with awesome views of the city skyline. One morning after our oatmeal and bananas my craft Uncle said, May I blindfold you for a special adventure? I agreed. You may take my elbow, he said, and we descended the steep hill. Once we reached flat ground he removed the blindfold and said, Look up, this is your Mecca. I did. City Lights Book Sellers. Home of Ginsberg's Howl, Jack Kerouac's On the Road, Ferlinghetti's SF beat poetry, those transplanted New Yorkers created a book store of several stories that will never close despite online books and A-Zon. And John was right about me. I became a Literature and Writing teacher and research professor. Thank you more than these words can say, Unc, for the inspiration that you gave us every day. I put his ashes in the Consumnes River that borders Barbero Ranch where Mom still lives, and watched them float downstream to the San Francisco Bay. City Lights Book Sellers. Make it your Mecca

Ask any book lover where to go in San Francisco to find a rare book, like a short history of spaghetti with tomato sauce, you'll be directed to City Lights Booksellers. Located at 261 Columbus Avenue, it is a landmark bookstore and publishing house that has been known as a literary meeting place since 1953 for readers, artists and activists. Founded by poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, City Lights is the nation's first all-paperback bookstore. Open daily from 10 to 10, it features three floors of new-release hardcovers and quality paperbacks from all major publishing houses...poetry, fiction, translation, non-fiction, politics, history, philosophy, music, film, spirituality and cultural studies. Browse our shelves is the store's slogan. As a devoted book lover, that is exactly what I did. From Roald Dahl's Matilda to Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye to Simone De Beauvoir's The Second Sex to Ted Chiang's Exhalation to Allan Ginsberg's Howl & Other Poems. Most recent releases include Kubrick: An Odyssey, Spoken Word: A Cultural History and Before the Movement: The Hidden History of Black Civil Rights. If City Lights doesn't have a book on the subject you are looking for, it probably hasn't been written yet.

City Lights Booksellers has been an institution in San Francisco for over 50 years. It is now across three floors and sells real books!

Not just an ordinary bookstore, but one drenched in history. The upper poetry only floor features several iconic posters/photos of the Beats and the selection is quite robust. Much expanded since my initial visit 50 years ago, it now boasts three floors. In addition to books, also got a great tip on a place to eat nearby. To some, it is just another bookstore, but for me it was the very first place I headed to visit once I arrived back in SF. Your mileage may vary.

City Lights is a historic landmark--assuming that there are some people who still like to read. Like, as in, books. Held in hand. This is a very warm and friendly place for people who like to think with the written word. It is a publishing house as well, with a very specific art-and-beat-generation-literature profile. What is most striking about the books this two-level bookstore sells is that they are chosen with _taste_ as well as a critical angle on our life today. Visit this bookstore and trust their choices.