Sideshow Books — Local services in Los Angeles

As other reviews have remarked, this is a very cluttered and delightful bookstore. The owner is very friendly and serves free espresso to visitors.

The book selection is extensive and there are sure to be a few great picks for anyone provided you’re willing to search for them. Regarding philosophy, Sideshow Books has a decent collection but seems to have suffered from being picked over frequently, but there were still a few titles more interesting than the standard shelf fodder.

In addition to the philosophy section there was a radicalism/communism section which also seems to be frequently searched. Many of these books were behind a table piled high with books, and so searching can be fairly difficult. Expect to knock down some books at least once during your visit.

Another notable section was the black and African nonfiction section which extended to the ceiling and had books shelved two copies deep. A lot of good radical history, biography and sociology can be found there. All books were priced more or less in line with the market price, with great prices on rarer titles.

Overall, it’s worth paying a visit to this bookstore if you’re in the area or you like digging through stacks of books...

Wonderful little bookstore, literally.

You quickly find out that there isn't enough room for two people to walk abreast in here, but on the upside, you get offered espresso! Not a bad deal. In all seriousness, the amount of books they managed to fit into this space is staggering, and though it may seem a bit disheveled, there's a lot of order to the chaos. Even the dispersed carts filled with stacks and stacks of books keep the order going. The folks who run this place put a lot of care into making sure you see authors in the right places so that your head doesn't immediately begin spinning as soon as you enter.

This isn't one of those places you come looking for the latest and greatest romances. No, this is a place where you haven't the foggiest idea what you'll find, but as soon as you find something, you'll be glad you came. I'd urge anyone to swing by this place and peruse the shelves. I myself discovered a new author and will be picking up another one of his books as soon as I can. And I'm definitely swinging by again, bringing new and unsuspecting...

This place is Plato's concept of the used bookstore. It's floor to twelve foot ceiling bookshelves, crammed with books. It's piles of books on the floor. It has aisles so narrow that I couldn't pass, the better to fit more books. It's a place that will be complete when every cubic millimeter is filled with books.

If you're looking for biographies of Hollywood actors or musicians, this place will be your dream. It also has a huge collection of books that were turned into movies. I strongly suspect they had been owned by people who worked on those movies.

It matches the reading habits of Hollywood. There are bookcases filled with fiction books that would make great movies. But the selection of non-fiction (other than left-leaning politics) is small.

It's...