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43-475: In the late 1970s, Vale was working at City Lights Bookstore , and he was deeply interested in the growing punk rock scene. He was dissatisfied with mainstream coverage of the emerging culture, so he decided to form his own independent magazine, known as a zine . Inspired by Claude Levi-Strauss , the father of structural anthropology, Vale decided to treat the magazine like an anthropological project. This meant, "...in other words, not to make any assumptions about

86-477: A publishing company , named RE/Search Publications. The first issue of RE/Search (1980) had photographs by Ruby Ray and articles on Factrix , The Slits , conspiracies (written by Jay Kinney ), Young Marble Giants , Boyd Rice 's NON, Cabaret Voltaire , Sun Ra , flashcards, Japan, J. G. Ballard , Julio Cortázar , rhythm & noise, Soldier of Fortune Magazine , Throbbing Gristle , nuclear disaster , Situationism , Octavio Paz , and "punk prostitutes". It

129-510: A $ 200 donation from a friend who was a doctor. The debut issue of Search & Destroy , named after the Stooges song , focused on the emerging punk and new wave scene, with articles on Mabuhay Gardens , the hottest venue for punk in the city, and interviews with the local bands Crime , Vermilion, and the Nuns . He stated in an interview, "...I sort of kept going, but I never thought I would make

172-460: A beacon, a place of learning and enlightenment. City Lights sells a curated selection of new books, specializing in literature, cultural studies, world history, and politics. It offers three floors of new-release hardcovers and paperbacks from all major publishers, as well as a large selection of titles from smaller, independent publishers. It hosts weekly events in its City Lights LIVE programming series, which switched to virtual events in 2020 due to

215-441: A city landmark because of its "distinctive characteristics typical of small commercial buildings constructed following the 1906 earthquake and fire." The landmark designation mandates the preservation of certain external features of the building and its immediate surroundings. Peters commented (referring to the effect of dotcom and computer firms), "The old San Francisco is under attack to the point where it's disappearing." By 2003,

258-615: A decade afterwards," as written in European Journal of American Culture (2011). Jello Biafra has also called Modern Primitives an influential book. City Lights Bookstore City Lights is an independent bookstore -publisher combination in San Francisco, California, that specializes in world literature , the arts, and progressive politics . It also houses the nonprofit City Lights Foundation, which publishes selected titles related to San Francisco culture. It

301-415: A living off it." In total, eleven issues of Search & Destroy were published, between 1977 and 1979. Like many other punk cultural figures, Vale saw connections between the punk movement and dadaism and surrealism , and he sought to explore these influences in his zine. Cultural figures and groups such as William S. Burroughs , JG Ballard , Russ Meyers , Lou Reed , Patti Smith , Iggy Pop , Devo ,

344-415: A million. Ginsberg continued to publish his major books of poetry with the press for the next 25 years. Even after the publication by Harper & Row of his Collected Poems in 1980, he would continue his warm association with City Lights, which served as his local base of operations, for the rest of his life. Modern Primitives (book) Modern Primitives , written by V. Vale and Andrea Juno ,

387-487: A vastly greater public, including graphic images of genital piercing and genital bisection and scarification . The book also advanced numerous urban legends regarding the history and origin of body piercing, which remain widespread to this day, most notably Doug Malloy ( Richard Simonton )'s invented origins of various piercings. The book was the subject of an obscenity trial in England. In November 1989, police seized

430-500: Is a RE/Search publications book about body modification , published in 1989. The book consists of a collection of twenty two interviews and two essays with individuals and key figures involved in the field of body modification in the late 1980s. It was one of the first documents to attempt to comprehensively cover the re-emergence and increasing popularity of tattooing , piercing , scarification , corsetry , sideshow , ritual and other practices in contemporary western society . At

473-578: The American Civil Liberties Union that the organization would defend him, should he be prosecuted for obscenity. Published in November 1956, Howl was not long in generating controversy. In March 1957, local Collector of Customs Chester MacPhee seized a shipment from England of the book's second printing on grounds of obscenity, but he was compelled to release the books when federal authorities refused to confirm his charge. But

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516-661: The Assemblage by Juan Felipe Herrera (who was U.S. Poet Laureate at the time), Dated Emcees by Chinaka Hodge , an anniversary edition of The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez , Incidents of Travel in Poetry by Frank Lima , Retablos by Octavio Solis , Poso Wells by Gabriela Alemán , Under the Dome by Jean Daive , and Funeral Diva by Pamela Sneed , among others. The press has also published two books by Tongo Eisen-Martin , Poet Laureate of San Francisco. Associated from

559-574: The Clash , Talking Heads , Weirdos , and Jello Biafra were profiled. However, the staff and scene that supported Search & Destroy eventually diminished in size. Vale explained, "It took two years to build up 200 hardcore people truly into punk, so that they just got into it 100% and quit working full-time—most of them—and started bands, or publishing, or taking photos, or making posters, or making clothes, or whatever they did. Overnight they all pretty much vanished." The magazine later transformed into

602-524: The RE/Search newsletter. RE/Search books have influenced many writers, activists, and artists. Michelle Tea cited Angry Women as an early inspiration for her. The book Modern Primitives "... changed countless lives, bringing what had been a localized and niche set of body modification practices, aesthetics and philosophies out of San Francisco to a global audience, dominating scholarly and popular discourse around body modification subculture for more than

645-584: The Six Gallery; the next day, he offered to publish it along with other shorter poems. William Carlos Williams — who was Ginsberg's childhood Pediatrician and himself a future Pocket Poet with a 1957 edition of his early modernist classic, Kora in Hell ( 1920 ) — was recruited for an introduction, perhaps to lend literary justification to Howl' s depictions of drug use and homosexuality. Prior to publication, Ferlinghetti had asked, and received, assurance from

688-626: The bookstore for over fifty years, and in 2023 was awarded the National Book Foundation 's Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the Literary Community. In 1971, Ferlinghetti persuaded Nancy Peters – who was working at the Library of Congress – to join in a project with him, after which she began full-time work at City Lights. She said: When I joined City Lights in 1971, and started working with Lawrence, it

731-653: The bookstore. Wolberg is credited with organizing the once chaotically messy shelves and for convincing a cheap Ferlinghetti to install anti-shoplifting metal detectors. Through his connection to City Lights, Wolberg produced records for Beat poets such as Charles Bukowski and Shel Silverstein . The logo for City Lights Bookstore is a medieval guild mark , chosen by Ferlinghetti, from Rudolf Koch 's The Book of Signs . In 1970, City Lights hired Paul Yamazaki, an activist who had been jailed during protests for Black studies and Ethnic studies departments at San Francisco State University . Yamazaki would continue working at

774-480: The case, and secured the pro bono services of famous criminal defense lawyer J. W. Ehrlich. The municipal court trial, presided over by Judge Clayton W. Horn , ran from August 16 to September 3, 1957. The charges against Murao were dismissed since it couldn't be proved that he knew what was in the book. Then, during the trial of Ferlinghetti, respected writers and professors testified for the defense. Judge Horn rendered his precedent-setting verdict, declaring that Howl

817-474: The culture, and try and use a lot what I call 'first-hand informants." In addition, Vale was inspired by Interview magazine, which was put out by Andy Warhol . For these reasons, he chose an interview format for the magazine. The first issue was financed through small donations. Allen Ginsberg wrote a $ 100 check, after a request from Vale. This was followed by $ 100 from Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Vale knew both writers through City Lights Bookstore. Then, he secured

860-472: The first few weeks, but eventually became manager of the store and was a key element in creating the unique feel of City Lights. In 1955, Martin sold his share of the business to Ferlinghetti for $ 1000, moved to New York and started the New Yorker Bookstore which specialized in cinema. In the late 1960s, Ferlinghetti hired Joseph Wolberg, former philosophy professor at SUNY Buffalo, to manage

903-610: The first time this had been granted to a business, rather than a building – citing the organization for "playing a seminal role in the literary and cultural development of San Francisco and the nation." It recognized the bookstore as "a landmark that attracts thousands of book lovers from all over the world because of its strong ambiance of alternative culture and arts", and it acknowledged City Lights Publishers for its "significant contribution to major developments in post- World War II literature." The building itself, with its clerestory windows and small mezzanine balcony, also qualified as

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946-502: The intersection of Broadway in North Beach . Built on the ruins of a previous building destroyed in the fire following the 1906 earthquake, the building was designed by Oliver Everett in 1907 and named for its owners. City Lights originally shared the building with a number of other shops. It gradually gained more space whenever one of the other shops became vacant, and eventually occupied the entire building. In 1953, as Ferlinghetti

989-471: The outset with radical left-wing politics and issues of social justice, City Lights has in recent years augmented its list of political non-fiction, publishing books by Angela Y. Davis , Noam Chomsky , Michael Parenti , Howard Zinn , Mumia Abu-Jamal , Ward Churchill , Tim Wise , Roy Scranton , John Gibler , Todd Miller , Clarence Lusane , Ralph Nader , Henry A. Giroux , and Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz . Ferlinghetti had heard Ginsberg read Howl in 1955 at

1032-623: The pandemic. City Lights is a member of the American Booksellers Association . In 1955 , Ferlinghetti launched City Lights Publishers with his own Pictures of the Gone World , the first number in the Pocket Poets Series . This was followed in quick succession by Thirty Spanish Poems of Love and Exile translated by Kenneth Rexroth and Poems of Humor & Protest by Kenneth Patchen , but it

1075-528: The press published an anthology of texts by Antonin Artaud , edited by Jack Hirschman . In 2014, the press published its first New York Times bestselling book, Rad American Women A-Z , the press's first book for children, by Kate Schatz with illustrations by Miriam Klein Stahl . Since then, other critically acclaimed books of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry include Man Alive by Thomas Page McBee , Notes on

1118-466: The publishing operation moved to 1562 Grant Avenue. Dick McBride ran this part of the business with his brother Bob McBride and Martin Broadley for several years. In 1971, Nancy Peters joined Ferlinghetti as co-editor and publisher. He praised her as "one of the best literary editors in the country.". Presently, the publisher is Elaine Katzenberger, who is also the director of the bookstore. Over

1161-463: The status of classics, including True Minds by Marie Ponsot ( 1957 ), Here and Now by Denise Levertov ( 1958 ), Gasoline ( 1958 ) by Gregory Corso , Selected Poems by Robert Duncan ( 1959 ), Lunch Poems ( 1964 ) by Frank O'Hara , Selected Poems ( 1967 ) by Philip Lamantia , Poems to Fernando ( 1968 ) by Janine Pommy Vega , Golden Sardine ( 1969 ) by Bob Kaufman , and Revolutionary Letters ( 1971 ) by Diane di Prima . In 1967

1204-487: The store had 15 employees. Peters estimated that the year's profits would be only "maybe a thousand dollars." In 2007, after 23 years as executive director, she stepped down from the post, which was filled by Elaine Katzenberger; Peters remained on the board of directors. Peters said of her work at City Lights: When I started working here we were in the middle of the Vietnam War, and now it's Iraq. This place has been

1247-445: The time of its publication, Modern Primitives was the first text to attempt to comprehensively address the issues, aesthetics and meaning involved in the subject of body modification. The public knowledge of the term Modern Primitive is primarily due to the widespread popularity of this book. of the images in the book would have been familiar to persons involved in the movement, but the book exposed several "underground" practices to

1290-429: The title of a magazine, publishing early work by such key Bay Area writers as Philip Lamantia , Pauline Kael , Jack Spicer , Robert Duncan , and Ferlinghetti himself, as "Lawrence Ferling". A year later, Martin used the name to establish the first all-paperback bookstore in the U.S., at the time an audacious idea. The site was a tiny storefront in the triangular Artigues Building located at 261 Columbus Avenue, near

1333-623: The troubles were just beginning, for in June of that year, local police raided City Lights Bookstore and arrested store manager Shigeyoshi Murao on the charge of offering an obscene book for sale. Ferlinghetti, then in Big Sur , turned himself in on his return to San Francisco. Both faced a possible $ 500 fine and a 6-month sentence. (Ginsberg was in Tangiers at the time, and not charged.) The ACLU posted bail, assigned defense counsel Albert Bendich to

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1376-709: The typography and designs of RE/Search books. He maintained the typesetting business until 1991, when he sold it so that he could focus on publishing work full-time. In the 1980s and 1990s, RE/Search published books on various underground topics. Some titles included Pranks , Incredibly Strange Films , and Modern Primitives , and the subject matter included profiles of William S. Burroughs , SPK (band) , J. G. Ballard, and others. Modern Primitives introduced many readers to piercing , tattooing , scarification , and body modification . It included interviews with Fakir Musafar , Ed Hardy , Lyle Tuttle , Leo Zulueta , Bill Salmon, and Vyvyn Lazonga , among others. Angry Women

1419-570: The years, the press has published a wide range of poetry and prose, fiction and nonfiction, and works in translation. In addition to books by Beat Generation authors, the press publishes literary work by such authors as Charles Bukowski , Georges Bataille , Rikki Ducornet , Paul Bowles , Sam Shepard , Andrei Voznesensky , Nathaniel Mackey , Alejandro Murguía , Pier Paolo Pasolini , Ernesto Cardenal , Daisy Zamora , Guillermo Gómez-Peña , Juan Goytisolo , Anne Waldman , André Breton , Kamau Daáood , Masha Tupitsyn , and Rebecca Brown . In 1965,

1462-485: Was a period of persecution, and FBI infiltration of those presses. In 1984, the business was in a financial crisis and Peters became a co-owner of it. Ferlinghetti credits her for the subsequent survival and growing success of the business. In 1999, with Ferlinghetti, she bought the building they worked in. In 2001, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors made City Lights an official historic landmark –

1505-781: Was an influential feminist book, and it was read in many college classes. It included interviews with Diamanda Galas , Lydia Lunch , Karen Finley , Susie Bright , Annie Sprinkle , Kathy Acker , bell hooks , and Wanda Coleman . Freaks explored " circus freak " culture, while Bob Flanagan: Supermasochist profiled Bob Flanagan , a performance artist and masochist with cystic fibrosis . Furthermore, RE/Search book explored "weird" culture. Incredibly Strange Films helped introduce audiences to Russ Meyer and Herschell Gordon Lewis . Incredibly Strange Music helped introduce audiences to Yma Sumac and Ken Nordine . In later publications, RE/Search explored topics such as artificial intelligence , Burning Man , and Timothy Leary . RE/Search

1548-467: Was clear that it had been very much a center of protest, for people with revolutionary ideas and people who wanted to change society. And when I first began working at the little editorial office up on Filbert and Grant, people that Lawrence had known through the whole decade of the '60s were dropping in all the time, like Paul Krassner , Tim Leary , people who were working with underground presses and trying to provide an alternative to mainstream media. This

1591-414: Was distributed by Rough Trade . Following the third issue, issues 4 and 5 were collected as a single volume, a "special book issue," with a focus on William S. Burroughs , Brion Gysin , and Throbbing Gristle . Subsequent issues all retained the book format. During this time, Vale also launched a typesetting business, RE/Search Typography. This enabled him to fund the publishing house while managing

1634-414: Was founded in 1953 by poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Peter D. Martin (who left two years later). Both the store and the publishers became widely known following the obscenity trial of Ferlinghetti for publishing Allen Ginsberg 's influential collection Howl and Other Poems (City Lights, 1956). Nancy Peters started working there in 1971 and retired as executive director in 2007. In 2001, City Lights

1677-514: Was made an official historic landmark. City Lights is located at 261 Columbus Avenue. While formally located in Chinatown , it self-identifies as part of immediately adjacent North Beach . City Lights was the inspiration of Peter D. Martin , who relocated from New York City to San Francisco in the 1940s to teach sociology. He first used City Lights , in homage to the Chaplin film , in 1952 as

1720-466: Was not obscene and that a book with "the slightest redeeming social importance" merits First Amendment protection. Horn's decision established the precedent that paved the way for the publication of such hitherto banned books as D. H. Lawrence 's Lady Chatterley's Lover and Henry Miller 's Tropic of Cancer . The media attention resulting from the trial stimulated national interest, and, by 1958, there were 20,000 copies in print. Today there are over

1763-570: Was the impact of the fourth volume, Howl and Other Poems ( 1956 ) by Allen Ginsberg that brought national attention to the author and publisher. City Lights Journal published poems of the Indian Hungry generation writers when the group faced police case in Kolkata. The group got worldwide publicity thereafter. Apart from Ginsberg's seven collections, a number of the early Pocket Poets volumes brought out by Ferlinghetti have attained

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1806-399: Was the subject of a special issue of the European Journal of American Studies (August 2011, Vol. 30 issue 2), including an examination of "the growth and decline of RE/Search as a commercial enterprise dedicated to documenting and, in effect, marketing selected countercultural trends." Both artist and musician Florian-Ayala Fauna and science fiction author Bruce Sterling are sponsors for

1849-480: Was walking past the Artigues Building, he encountered Martin out front hanging up a sign that announced a "Pocket Book Shop." He introduced himself as a contributor to Martin's magazine City Lights , and told him he had always wanted a bookstore. Before long he and Martin agreed to a partnership. Each man invested $ 500. Soon after they opened, they hired Shig Murao as a clerk. Murao worked without pay for

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