Welcome to City Lights Bookstore!

A literary meeting place since 1953, City Lights is a landmark general bookstore, internationally known for its expert selection of books and for its commitment to free intellectual inquiry. Here you can check out our events calendar, browse a selection of featured books, new releases and recommended titles from the City Lights staff, sign up to receive City Lights newsletters, and learn a bit of the history of City Lights.

Keep in mind that our website represents only a tiny percentage of the titles we actually carry in our bookstore, so if you don't see what you want, please do give us a call Monday - Saturday from 12-6pm, or email us at orders@citylights.com anytime to inquire about availability — we probably have what you want! 

For any immediate questions or concerns, see our contact page or give us a call at (415) 362-8193

 

SEE ALL STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS >>

 

Featured and Recommended Titles at the Bookstore

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100 Boyfriends
Brontez Purnell
A horny valentine. It's like an angel (in a bathhouse) sighing. A good lover is hard to find, but less preposterous with the written word of wisdom that is Brontez Purnell's luscious defiance. --Recommended by Ryan and Paul
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Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath
Heather Clark
The highly anticipated new biography of Sylvia Plath that focuses on her remarkable literary and intellectual achievements, while restoring the woman behind the long-held myths about her life and art. --Recommended by Ryan
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The Dead Are Arising
The Life of Malcolm X
Les Payne, Tamara Payne
An epic biography of Malcolm X finally emerges, drawing on hundreds of hours of the author's interviews, rewriting much of the known narrative.
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Just Us
An American Conversation
Claudia Rankine
As everyday white supremacy becomes increasingly vocalized with no clear answers at hand, how best might we approach one another? Claudia Rankine, without telling us what to do, urges us to begin the discussions that might open pathways through this divisive and stuck moment in American history.
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His Truth Marching On
John Lewis and the Power of Hope
Jon Meacham
An intimate and revealing portrait of civil rights icon and longtime U.S. congressman John Lewis, linking his life to the painful quest for justice in America from the 1950s to the present—from the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Soul of America
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Transcendent Kingdom
Yaa Gyasi
Yaa Gyasi's stunning follow-up to her acclaimed national best seller Homegoing is a powerful, raw, intimate, deeply layered novel about a Ghanaian family in Alabama.