IT WASTHE LAST TIME I'LL EVER GO TO THE TOURIST TRAP CALLED "THE LAST BOOKSTORE" IN DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES : THE LAST BOOK STORE SHOULD BE THE LAST PLACE YOU GO LOOKING FOR BOOKS!
Opinion by Christine Trzyna
Months ago, I and a friend, he with his service dog in a carrier (no questions asked but the carrier looks like a wheeled suitcase and cannot be missed), and me with a big bag full of library books and a manuscript as well as a purse, were allowed into THE LAST BOOKSTORE without a problem. After encountering the fanciful displays - tunnels and such - made of used books - we sat on an old sofa. He fell asleep - so did his dog - and I let him as I paged through a couple books and decided to buy one of them.
The displays - excellent upcycling and creatively designed - were also shabby and dusty. I wondered if the owners had bought up storage units of decaying paper books, as well as the book cases, of many a defunct ma and pa bookstore, especially because only in this environment did so many odd and unmatched book cases look right
There were a lot of tourists with cell phones taking pictures around us, documenting their visit to this massive space that takes the ground floor of an old building, which also has some boutique businesses within. We quickly looked into these other businesses which must be subleasing. Later we learned that we could have gotten a free cup of coffee if we showed that we had bought a book. (Which would have required going back upstairs.) Because their web site mentioned that they had a ghost, I asked an employee where the ghost was. Ha Ha! In the elevator, a bank robber who got shot by the police in an elevator. (What marketing!)
So, the other day, I decided to go solo to THE LAST BOOK STORE, in search of a memoir or two and a cup of coffee. I decided to try and navigate the Metro subway there. Last visit we had walked down the hill past Pershing Square from LAPL - Central. This time, when I went above ground, I realized I was a few blocks from LAPL - Central. I realized later I would have been better off getting off at Pershing Square.
I was carrying with me a small, clean, light-colored backpack - purse with handles, not one of those huge backpacks that looks like one is going to climb Mount Everest. Also a small clean canvas book bag received at a library event with a library design on it and a small collapsible umbrella. I was wearing clogs that are waterproof but also clean and well designed. I was wearing black slacks, not beat-up jeans with holes, and a classic burgundy sweater, over which I had my cotton jacket which was, unlike most of my clothing, designed by Ralph Lauren. I had a beanie on my head. No cosmetics. No facial tattoos.
I bathe. I did not smell. I am not a suspicious character.
On my way - at least eight city blocks - maybe ten - to THE LAST BOOKSTORE, I grew fatigued. I stopped in front of a side door of THE BILTMORE HOTEL. I had always wanted to go inside and look around the Biltmore, but was intimidated about going through the front lobby. If there was any place in downtown Los Angeles that I imagined someone might want to tell me, politely, that I did not belong there and needed to leave right away, it would have been THE BILTMORE HOTEL. The hotel, opened in 1923, is part of Los Angeles - Hollywood history. Instead, an employee outside, sensing my interest, said to me "Go ahead and go in!" I didn't invade all the rooms - there are restaurants and bars and ballrooms - but I spent about a half hour in there, photographing without a problem, looking around. What I saw was simply majestic. At no time did any employee inside THE BILTMORE HOTEL approach me.
But when I got to THE LAST BOOKSTORE, I quickly realized that I had wasted my day making this place a goal. I WAS TOLD I COULD NOT GO IN WITH MY BACKPACK, though I told the man with the cheesy smile at the desk, that I had money and electronics with me in it and didn't feel good about leaving it. (If it was stolen, I thought, how would I be compensated, if at all? Did he go through a background check to get the job?) I WAS TOLD THAT I COULD NOT EVEN TAKE THE CANVAS LIBRARY BAG WITH ME. Ah, what if I had to travel with a medical kit of some kind like my friend does because he has low blood sugar?
"If I cannot take these in with me, how do you expect me to buy books?"
"Most people only TAKE THEIR WALLET!" he said. Yes he did. So slick!
So I said "Forget it" and asked for my things back. He turned my things over smoothly without loosing that cheesy smile. He claimed he hated the store policy too.
Behind him were a dozen BIG BLACK BACKPACKS - OK - I get it - like homeless men take around with them.
To say I was INSULTED would not be right. I was STUPEFIED. As I left, around the bend and into the storefront came a couple with a BABY IN ARMS and A HUGE DIAPER BAG. Good Luck! I thought. I knew I would NEVER EVER BOTHER TO GO BACK TO SUCH A PLACE. I WAS ONCE CONNED BY THE CHARISMA OF IT; NO MORE!
THE LAST BOOKSTORE IS CLEARLY MAKING TOO MUCH MONEY, SO MUCH THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT A POTENTIALLY GOOD CUSTOMER - THE LIKES OF ME. They are too busy PROFILING - erroneously.
So let's look at it. IF YOU ARE STAYING IN A HOTEL OR LIVE IN DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES that is in WALKABLE DISTANCE to THE LAST BOOKSTORE, then you can go in there with your wallet.
IF YOU ARE LIKE MOST ANGELENOS - men and women - ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO GO DOWNTOWN USING THE SUBWAY or BUS - PUBLIC TRANSIT - you take a backpack or bag or bags with you. YOU DO NOT HAVE A TRUNK OR GLOVE COMPARTMENT. YOU DO NOT PAY HIGH PARKING FEES to go and do downtown. You take a backback because you are a STUDENT, say. Maybe you're a student of LITERATURE or CREATIVE WRITING AT USC or UCLA. MAYBE YOU ARE A POET, A WRITER, A PUBLISHED AUTHOR, A PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH AT LA VALLEY COLLEGE. MAYBE YOU SPEAK AT THE USC LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK FAIR -
Maybe you are a tourist, and you're staying at a youth hostel. Maybe - just maybe - you are on the best seller list!
You get me.
At a time when Anti-Amazon sentiment is rising, many of us want to read books that seem to have gone extinct, and so we head for a used book store.
I SUGGEST THAT YOU FIND ANOTHER INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORE, and support that bookstore - even if they are in another state. Let them order in the new books that you want too, if you do not find them at your local library, on Project Gutenberg, in Google Books, on Hoopla or another such app, BEFORE YOU TAKE A TRECK TO THE LAST BOOKSTORE!
Another day I will likely post a photo of the entrance of this store, just to prove to you that I actually went there!
C 2026 Christine Trzyna
All Rights Reserved including Internet and International Rights.
Hey, I've been blogging for years. I don't need to YELP IT! Do I?
PS. It's not that about me having "class": it's that the Biltmore has it and The Last Bookstore does not!
