chris-in-eugene:

larkandkatydid:

unpretty:

unpretty:

unpretty:

unpretty:

“Honestly, these days I’m mostly an e-reader, and if I want a book I buy it. I only get nice hardcovers of books I really like. Plus, it seems like to find anything I’d have to dig and search, which I don’t care enough to do anymore. I’m mostly going to this bookstore for the vibes. My budget is safe because I doubt I’ll even buy anything.” – me, full of hubris, about to enter John King Used & Rare Books

photo of shelves stuffed with old booksALT
more shelves stuffed with booksALT
a room full of books with a hand drawn map of where to find different art booksALT
a shelf with books stacked sideways with a note that horses have moved to aisle 12ALT
stacks and racks and rolling carts of booksALT
more stacks of books with comic art and a taped up copy of national lampoonALT

one of the first sections on the first floor is art and comics and i immediately realized my error

Photos of books including Rufus King's Valcour Meets Murder and Murder By Latitude, an Outbursts of Everett True collection, two collections of J.R. Williams comics, a Popeye collection, a Pogo collection, a Batman comic strip collection, and a collection of Terry and the Pirates. Multiple books are from the 30s and 40s.ALT

the gasp i let out when i spotted an Out Our Way collection was audible three stacks over and truly humbling. when i saw a rufus king pulp from 1930 i was so excited i started tearing up for real.

here is a map of the store btw

a page titled John K King Bookstore Map with a directional compass and a mention that you can use phones indicated on the map to call for assistance. there is a map for each of the first floors with more categories than i am comfortable listing out in the alt text. there are so many.ALT

they offer it when you walk in so you can figure out where you are and one of the employees assured me that if i got lost i could just yell

a photo from the outside of the huge fucking warehouse of a building with the name painted in big block letters around itALT

I worked on the 4th floor of John King for almost two years and except for the low pay, constant dust and lack of heating and air conditioning it was an absolute dream job. Very few people ever made it up all four flights of stairs so I was alone in a giant room full of books and no expectations. I read the entire woman’s studies section during the winter of 2004.

Also, it’s true that finding lost patrons when they yell was a significant part of the job.

John K King Books | Detroit | Used & Rare Books

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