Saturday, February 12, 2005
Chicago Bookstore Tour
Here's the rundown of the stores I went to last week....
Poster Plus - poster/cards/frame shop across the street from the Art Inst of Chicago. This is a family run business that handles a lot of high-end antique posters, though I think they see a lot of the day-to-day cash flow from $15-20 posters and gift books sold to tourists.
Art Institute of Chicago - It's crazy that when I was growing up, my favorite scene from Ferris Bueller's Day Off was Cameron, Ferris, and Simone stand in front of the Seurat at the AIC. And now the bookstore here is a large account that I visit three or four times a year. I love the way life creates connections and reincorporates things from the past.
Seminary Co-op - one of the best academic bookstores I've seen. It's a true bookstore, not just a college textbook store that carries general books. It's located in a religious studies building on the University of Chicago campus. You walk down a stone staircase, past a glass cabinet filled with limited edition or special edition titles to a counter at the bottom of the staircase filled with posters and cards advertising lectures on campus, theater productions, or rooms for rent. Next to the counter is a shelf of Chicago-related titles, with emphasis on academic books written about the city's history. Past this room is a sprawling network of bookcases under a low ceiling. It feels like finding the world's history in a dark basement with pine wood shelving. I love it.
from the Sem Co-op I drove up Lakeshore Drive past the Museum of Science and Technology, past the McCormick Center, around the Field Museum and Shedd Aquarium, and back to park next to the new Millenium Park with the Frank Gehry bandshell. Our spring list is architecture heavy, so I had lunch with...
Chicago Architecture Foundation - A cool little store that specializes in Chicago architecture, both buildings and local architects. They have an extensive lecture and events calendar. But the main reason to visit is to take one of their historical tours of the city. By foot or by boat (in summer) you can learn about the types of architecture in the city, both the past and modern.
Newberry Library - This is a small outlet of the Seminary Co-op located in the famous library. The store is well stocked and displayed for the tight space. I like hanging out on the hidden loft above. There are always amazing book arts items for sale, or unique cards I don't see anywhere else. The buyer, Laura Prail, also buys frontlist for their 57th Street Books location (back down on the Univ of Chicago campus). Chicago seems to have pockets of literature instead of an overall coverage.
Hejfina - I can never pass up a chance to mention this store. The owner has a savvy eye for design and archtecture books, clothing, furniture, and art. Definitely worth checking out if you're in the Wicker Park neighborhood.
Quimby's - Around the corner from Hejfina, is a totally different account for me. Quimby's is the legendary zine and underground comics store famous for being the unofficial home of Chris Ware and probably the Chicago headquarters for all things McSweeney's. See my post from January when Richard Gregg and I spent an evening here as customers.
Transitions Bookplace - an amazing recovery, metaphysical, new age store in between Wicker Park and Lincoln Park. They have a table and bench set made out of pure jade, tibetan chant bowls, fountains, and oh yes, lots of books. This is the place in Chicago for new age or self-help related events.
The Book Stall at Chestnut Court - Roberta Rubin deserves to be on the list of best booksellers in the country. She gets things done. Here's what my two hours at the bookstore included: a children's hour featuring one of their employees dressed as Little Critter from the Mercer Mayer books...a bulletin board in Roberta's office with pictures of an event with JK Rowling during the first Harry Potter book tour...first there was a delivery from an advance copy of Ian Rankin's new book that included a bottle of single malt scotch to remind Roberta that Rankin is from Scotland...then twenty minutes later a florist delivered a dozen roses with a note from James Patterson about his latest masterpiece (I forget the exact title, I think it's Danny's Wedding Locket to Julia Before She Was Stalked by Billy or something). If you're a young book publicist looking for inspiration for a new campaign, go with the scotch not the flowers. Really I think that's probably accurate advice for any time.
Chicago Comics - A great comics store that is more about comics as art and how to become a comic book artist. There are entire shelves devoted to individual artists (Chris Ware, Alex Ross) and separate sections on how to draw comics and how to draw manga. Behind all this are a few shelves on contemporary artists, particularly ones who have connections to illustration or comics. Great place, fun owner. Can't wait to see them more.
Museum of Contemporary Art - I finished the week with an exhibit opening party for the MCA's new Universal Experience show. It was fun to see a larger scale Thomas Hirschhorn, Jeff Koon's silver rabbit for the first time, and a few new sculptures and video art that I hadn't seen before. Though by the end, the party atmosphere was a little too much for me. Thanks to up-and-coming artists (and former K College classmates) Jorin and Jody for joining us for the night.
Next week: Kansas City and St. Louis
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Poster Plus - poster/cards/frame shop across the street from the Art Inst of Chicago. This is a family run business that handles a lot of high-end antique posters, though I think they see a lot of the day-to-day cash flow from $15-20 posters and gift books sold to tourists.
Art Institute of Chicago - It's crazy that when I was growing up, my favorite scene from Ferris Bueller's Day Off was Cameron, Ferris, and Simone stand in front of the Seurat at the AIC. And now the bookstore here is a large account that I visit three or four times a year. I love the way life creates connections and reincorporates things from the past.
Seminary Co-op - one of the best academic bookstores I've seen. It's a true bookstore, not just a college textbook store that carries general books. It's located in a religious studies building on the University of Chicago campus. You walk down a stone staircase, past a glass cabinet filled with limited edition or special edition titles to a counter at the bottom of the staircase filled with posters and cards advertising lectures on campus, theater productions, or rooms for rent. Next to the counter is a shelf of Chicago-related titles, with emphasis on academic books written about the city's history. Past this room is a sprawling network of bookcases under a low ceiling. It feels like finding the world's history in a dark basement with pine wood shelving. I love it.
from the Sem Co-op I drove up Lakeshore Drive past the Museum of Science and Technology, past the McCormick Center, around the Field Museum and Shedd Aquarium, and back to park next to the new Millenium Park with the Frank Gehry bandshell. Our spring list is architecture heavy, so I had lunch with...
Chicago Architecture Foundation - A cool little store that specializes in Chicago architecture, both buildings and local architects. They have an extensive lecture and events calendar. But the main reason to visit is to take one of their historical tours of the city. By foot or by boat (in summer) you can learn about the types of architecture in the city, both the past and modern.
Newberry Library - This is a small outlet of the Seminary Co-op located in the famous library. The store is well stocked and displayed for the tight space. I like hanging out on the hidden loft above. There are always amazing book arts items for sale, or unique cards I don't see anywhere else. The buyer, Laura Prail, also buys frontlist for their 57th Street Books location (back down on the Univ of Chicago campus). Chicago seems to have pockets of literature instead of an overall coverage.
Hejfina - I can never pass up a chance to mention this store. The owner has a savvy eye for design and archtecture books, clothing, furniture, and art. Definitely worth checking out if you're in the Wicker Park neighborhood.
Quimby's - Around the corner from Hejfina, is a totally different account for me. Quimby's is the legendary zine and underground comics store famous for being the unofficial home of Chris Ware and probably the Chicago headquarters for all things McSweeney's. See my post from January when Richard Gregg and I spent an evening here as customers.
Transitions Bookplace - an amazing recovery, metaphysical, new age store in between Wicker Park and Lincoln Park. They have a table and bench set made out of pure jade, tibetan chant bowls, fountains, and oh yes, lots of books. This is the place in Chicago for new age or self-help related events.
The Book Stall at Chestnut Court - Roberta Rubin deserves to be on the list of best booksellers in the country. She gets things done. Here's what my two hours at the bookstore included: a children's hour featuring one of their employees dressed as Little Critter from the Mercer Mayer books...a bulletin board in Roberta's office with pictures of an event with JK Rowling during the first Harry Potter book tour...first there was a delivery from an advance copy of Ian Rankin's new book that included a bottle of single malt scotch to remind Roberta that Rankin is from Scotland...then twenty minutes later a florist delivered a dozen roses with a note from James Patterson about his latest masterpiece (I forget the exact title, I think it's Danny's Wedding Locket to Julia Before She Was Stalked by Billy or something). If you're a young book publicist looking for inspiration for a new campaign, go with the scotch not the flowers. Really I think that's probably accurate advice for any time.
Chicago Comics - A great comics store that is more about comics as art and how to become a comic book artist. There are entire shelves devoted to individual artists (Chris Ware, Alex Ross) and separate sections on how to draw comics and how to draw manga. Behind all this are a few shelves on contemporary artists, particularly ones who have connections to illustration or comics. Great place, fun owner. Can't wait to see them more.
Museum of Contemporary Art - I finished the week with an exhibit opening party for the MCA's new Universal Experience show. It was fun to see a larger scale Thomas Hirschhorn, Jeff Koon's silver rabbit for the first time, and a few new sculptures and video art that I hadn't seen before. Though by the end, the party atmosphere was a little too much for me. Thanks to up-and-coming artists (and former K College classmates) Jorin and Jody for joining us for the night.
Next week: Kansas City and St. Louis
