Sam Spade's San Francisco

VIA Magazine, the publication of the California State Automobile Association (CSAA) , has published an article describing the five most significant literary landmarks in Northern California. The City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco is among them.

Lawrence Ferlinghetti's City Lights Bookstore on Columbus near Broadway became internationally famous during the beat generation. City Lights is more than a bookstore. It is also a publishing house. One of the first titles published by Ferlinghetti was a book by his friend, a gay beat poet from San Francisco by the name of Allen Ginsberg. The book was Ginsberg's acclaimed poem, Howl.

Today City Lights has more than 200 titles in print and the bookstore offers three floors of space and countless opportunities to bump into researchers, authors, poets, teachers, famous literary figures and bibliophiles from around the world.

City Lights Bookstore will be found at 261 Columbus and it's open 10 AM to midnight every day.

Story links:

VIA, The CSAA magazine

City Lights Bookstore

Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Allen Ginsberg

San Francisco's Beat Generation

San Francisco's Beat Museum