Tod Hunter writes:I have waxed rhapsodic about Book Soup for years. I have been a habitue of the literary oasis on the Sunset Strip since it opened in the '70s and I was a record store clerk at the Licorice Pizza kitty-corner from the Whisky A-Go-Go and spent my breaks bullshitting with Glenn the owner.
Glenn always made it a point to stock the best books he could get his hands on: Giant tomes of art, art of all kinds, graphic, painting, sculpture, some as big as a table. And tons of literature, many imported from England, like the complete P.G. Wodehouse issued in uniform editions.
As Sam Goldwyn would say, we've all passed a lot of water since then.
I have bought literally hundreds -- maybe thousands -- of dollars worth of books at Book Soup in the last 30 years, things I didn't even know I wanted until I saw them gleaming on the shelves. A collection of British humourist Spike Milligan. The collected film writings of Lindsay Anderson. (Did I mention that they have an extraordinary entertainment section? Must have slipped my mind.) I met Ed McMahon there when he was signing a book of his and we recollected a Tonight Show where I had been in attendance and Dean Martin and Bob Hope dropped in unannounced and I didn't stop laughing until I was back in my car. I didn't watch the Tonight Show for about 10 years after that, either. I had been at the best one, ever: Why watch a lesser edition on TV?
I was there when Elton John walked in with an entourage, and bought several oversized art books for about $300 each.
Dave Naz will be signing his latest book, L.A. Bondage, at a party there on Thursday. He will be accompanied by Eric Kroll, Ashley Blue, Nadia Styles, Gia Jordan, Dana De Armond, Flower Tucci, Jelena Jensen, Adrianna Nicole, Nina Hartley, Claire Adams and April Flores. The book is from Goliath, a publisher that doesn't flinch at putting sexy images -- sexy, hell, hardcore -- in its books, so whatever is in there is exactly what Naz wanted you to see.
Book Soup is at 8818 Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood, down the street from Hustler Hollywood and across Sunset from where Tower Records used to be. There is a small lot behind the store and a large pay lot on Sunset that used to be the Tower Records satellite lot.
It starts at 7 p.m.
Posted: Wednesday, December 5, 2007
