I figured I’d get the obvious out of the way right off the bat. As soon as I knew I would be visiting Portland, I knew I would have to stop by Powell’s Books.
The book store is a massive temple to the written word, filled with both new and used titles, as well as a plethora of other literary items. In other words, it’s my idea of a good time.
If you’re not careful, it’s easy to get lost among the shelves and shelves of titles. It’s just as easy to forget what you’re looking for. Then again, my approach to pretty much any kind of shopping is pretty aimless, so the piles and piles of neat books ensured plenty of wasted time at this place.
I would have loved to take home so many different things, but in the end I picked up a nice mix of poetry, fiction and comics:
The Possibility of Being by Ranier Maria Rilke
The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolaño
Cat Burglar Black by Richard Sala
Paul Moves Out by Michel Rabagliati
As if that weren’t enough printed material for one day, I also stopped by Countermedia, an interesting-looking little store just down the street from Powell’s. I was drawn in by the comics, but apparently this place specializes in counterculture publications and books. They also boast a massive porn collection. So there’s that.
Anyway, I bought a copy of “Eden,” a book by an Argentine cartoonist named Pablo Holmberg who also goes by the psuedonym Kioskerman. I didn’t realize it was already out, been eagerly waiting for this book.
Argentina has a great comics scene so hopefully more Argentine artists publish more translations of their work in the near future. I’m especially hoping someone gives Liniers a good English treatment. Better yet, I should probably just improve my Spanish. I’m sure I could find some books here in Portland to help with that.
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[...] stores proved to be easy enough. Yelp is a good resource, of course. I knew some places like Powell’s Books in Portland and the Fantagraphics Bookstore in Seattle just from reputation. But sometimes, you just have to [...]