Why a Booktrail?
1966: The story of a most unusual library
The Abortion
What you need to know before your trail
This is the story of a librarian of a very unusual California library which accepts books in any form and from anyone who wishes to drop one off at the library.
Children submit tales told in crayon about their toys; teenagers tell tales of angst and old people drop by with their memoirs—described as “the unwanted, the lyrical and haunted volumes of American writing” in the novel.
Summoned by a silver bell at all hours, submissions are catalogued at the librarian’s discretion; not by the Dewey Decimal system, but by placement on whichever magically dust-free shelf would, in the author’s judgment, serve best as the book’s home.”
Locations
Reset- America/USA - California
- A: San Francisco - 3150 Sacramento St
- B: San Francisco - City Lights Booksellers & Publishers
Travel Guide
Presidio Branch library, San Francisco
In this novel, the librarian who collects books that will never be published. He houses these original copies in his library (whose address is actually the real Presidio Branch library in San Franciso).
“We don’t use the Dewey decimal system or any index system to keep track of our books. We record their entrance into the library in the Library Contents Ledger and then we give the book back to its author who is free to place it anywhere he wants in the library, on whatever shelf catches his fancy.”
“It doesn’t make any difference where a book is placed because nobody ever checks them out and nobody ever comes here to read them. This is not that kind of library. This is another kind of library.”
Streetview Maps
A) CA - San Francisco - Presidio Branch Library
A) CA - San Francisco - Presidio Branch Library
Booktrail Boarding Pass: The Abortion
Destination: San Francisco Author/Guide: Richard Brautigan Departure Time: 1966
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