Moe's Books: The Best Of Berkeley
Moe’s Books is a four-story paradise for any literary junkie. Since its opening in 1963, Moe’s Books has been revolutionary in both maintaining a healthy inventory and providing the public with appealing and worthwhile literary events. Interesting still is the bookstore’s founder and history.
Moe Moskowitz is the brilliant architect behind the store’s success. Moskowitz was born in New York City in 1921. Moe lived most of his adolescent years in Queens, and later his twenties and early thirties in East Village. All the while, he found himself trying out a variety of jobs. Moe had been a merchant marine, a residential painter, an ice cream seller who worked out of a pushcart, a factory worker who manufactured pocketbooks, and he had an apprenticeship as a picture framer. Interestingly, Moe’s hobbies have included playing the violin, promoting anarchist views to all who’ll listen, propagating controversial ideals conjured by the Young Communist League, hunting for hip jazz clubs to visit, and dutifully acting on the stage in experimental theatre venues.
Clearly, Moe had a remarkable sense of following his convictions until they became a reality. One example would include him walking out on his own Bar Mitzvah because he didn’t subscribe to the purpose of rituals. And soon enough, Moe found his convictions steering him to the west coast. In 1955, around his mid-thirties, Moe left New York and migrated to Berkeley, California. In 1959, Moe opened The Paperback Shop, a modest bookstore with true character. After a few years of successful business, Moe relocated the store to Telegraph Avenue, where it’s remained ever since. He changed the store’s name to Moe’s Books, and it was then that his undeniable legacy had begun.
At the time, most stores purchased used books from customers by the pound, which of course led to very little cash in return for the seller. Customers were being cheated, and Moe understood their sentiment. He believed that paying fair prices for used books was the right thing to do. And as before, Moe quickly acted on his conviction. Soon enough, more and more people were selling their used books to Moe first — which meant his bookstore quickly thrived.
Soon the Free Speech Movement erupted on the streets of Berkeley. There were innumerable anti-war protests and large gatherings held in People’s Park. Moe soon reinvented the functions of his already prosperous bookstore. He decided to become intensely proactive. When tear gas canisters scuttled along the asphalt streets, and protesters and voyeurs scattered in chaotic panic, Moe often refused to close and lock his doors. He felt compelled to provide the protesters and on-lookers with a safe, temporary haven. Moreover, Moe would often use his bookstore for public debate. Moe and intellects openly discussed matters of politics and history. And at times, Moe’s Books was a place to conduct a form of street-level “court”. Moe had a knack for understanding the people and providing them with a place to allow their thoughts to be conversed and acknowledged.
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Moe MoskowitzThen as the decades progressed on, and with a large degree of sadness, Moe passed away on April 1st of 1997. Soon after, the City of Berkeley later honored his life and legacy by organizing a memorial in front of his bookstore on April 20th of the same year. In fact, the City of Berkeley dubbed that April 20th “Moe Day”. The crowd was a cornucopia of common folk, intellects, elitists, hipsters, hippies, trendsetters and trend-destroyers. All in all, there were around five hundred in attendance — undoubtedly an affirming number to the potency of Moe’s mission. At the memorial, renowned Beat poet Diane di Prima paid due homage and said that Moe was a:
“bulwark of radical sanity/calling community meetings in his store/while the hippies, police, university and business world raged and rioted/he outgrumped them all.”
But Moe and his mission do live on. There are exceptional literary events often scheduled, especially on Mondays. In fact, many big name writers choose to make Moe’s Books a definite stop on their book tours.
Visit Moe’s Books on Telegraph. Set aside enough time to wander the four levels of literary Eden. Hunt for a new or used book. Get lost in their inventory. Relax in the pages of a random book. Moe would have liked that.
Moe’s Books
2476 Telegraph Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94704
510.849.2087
books@moesbooks.com
www.moesbooks.com
Open 10 AM – 11 PM every day
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Moe's Books: The Best Of Berkeley
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