City Lights Chief Book Buyer Paul Yamazaki on a Half Century Spent “Reading the Room”

KQED's Forum

When you walk into the historic, beloved City Lights in San Francisco’s North Beach, it’s easy to get lost in the winding shelves packed with thousands of titles from classic literature, poetry and philosophy to contemporary fiction. There’s a legendary man behind the careful curation. Chief book buyer Paul Yamazaki has worked at City Lights since the 1970’s and has dedicated his career to filling the shelves with titles that spark conversations between books and readers. “Any single book has a constellation of conversations, consequences, and causes,” Yamazaki says in his new book “Reading the Room: A Bookseller’s Tale.” We’ll talk to Yamazaki about independent bookstores and what he sees for the future of books.

Guests:

Paul Yamazaki, chief book buyer, City Lights Bookstore - In 2023, Paul won the National Book Foundation's Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community

Melinda Powers, head book buyer, Book Shop Santa Cruz; president, California Independent Booksellers Alliance

Stephen Sparks, owner, Point Reyes Books and Wayfinder Bookshop

Hannah Oliver Depp, owner, Loyalty bookstore