JUST shy of five years ago, I went to visit a sharp new bookstore in downtown Los Angeles. It arrived at a time when downtown, and particularly the Old Bank district, seemed to be sparking: Pete’s had opened recently, and a video store and (if memory serves) good new Vietnamese place were a few steps away.
The sudden appearance of Metropolis Books startled so many locals that some thought it was a movie set.
The shop’s owner seemed very sincere about the endeavor, and the stock was on the small side, but well put together. I think I bought my beloved copy of David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas that day and still have the store’s bookmark.
Here is the 2006 LA Times story I wrote on the place and its hopeful future.
Well, all good things come to an end, and bookstores in Southern California have been ending a lot recently. LA Observed reports today that the place is for sale.
(Sigh.)