The Best of Cleveland - Bookstore Selection

Independent bookstores, at their best, do something chains never can: express their owner’s personality. So it is at Visible Voice Books where Dave Ferrante has filled a section with his favorite writers:”Beats, Counterculture, Iconoclasts,” it’s called. Last time we visited, Charles Bukowski and William Burroughs filled an entire shelf, with 40 and 14 books respectively. (Not sure which Bukowski to start with? Ferrante recommendsPost Office.) Thirty books cover Jack Kerouac’s career, 15 for Allen Ginsberg, a dozen for Hunter S. Thompson. Lesser known outlaw writers also get their due. You’d have to go to City Lights in San Francisco to find a deeper selection of literary rebellion. 1023 Kenilworth, Cleveland; (216) 961-0084; visiblevoicebooks.com