Subterranean Books

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6275 Delmar Blvd. St Louis, MO 63130

314-862-6100

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Best Book Store (Independent)
Award Winner 2011

Hours: Sun 12pm-6pm, Mon-Thu 11am-8pm, Fri-Sat 11am-10pm

Description

2011 | Best Book Store (Independent)

Sometimes you don't realize what you have until you're in danger of losing it forever. Last January Subterranean Books' owner Kelly von Plonski announced on the store's Facebook feed that if business didn't improve, she would be forced to close her doors. The news shocked and saddened a certain class of St. Louis book-buyer, the sort that values the experience of going into a bookstore and, after a conversation with the person behind the counter, coming out with something new and unexpected... More »
2008 | Best Book Store (Independent)

Writer Luc Sante likens looking around a room full of books to taking a journey; as your eye skips from title to title, images spring to mind and connections are made, snippets of data about the author bubble to the surface, times distant and long gone snap back to the present. It's one of life's greatest pleasures, walking into a bookstore and experiencing that frisson as the subsumed depths of your mind fire simultaneously, reminding you with a charge that your brain is a vaster realm than... More »
2007 | Best Book Store (Independent)

We could bend your ears for hours about supporting local businesses. But how about local businesses that support you Subterranean Books supports your book-buying habit. The shelves hold the best new titles culled from the reams of publishing dreck, the older titles you must read before you die, used books (not as many as it used to, but still enough to allow for the more-than-occasional serendipitous find) and stuff from the counterculture, subculture and high culture you won't find... More »
2005 | Best Book Store

Oprah's best efforts notwithstanding, books have taken a serious hit at the hands of competing media. It's easier to watch a movie, listen to a CD or turn on cable than it is to read a book, and most people do prefer easy. Regardless, savvy independent book merchants have managed to ride the changes, as Javier Parada and Kelly von Plonski, co-owners of Subterranean Books, can attest. They've been open in the Loop for five years and plan on staying. And if you think of Subterranean as... More »
2003 | Best Book Store

On the surface, it seems to be nepotism. Subterranean sits on Delmar, just across the street from the RFT offices in University City, and so it is a lunch-hour haven for the bookish (guilty) and an easy out for lazy reporters (guilty again). But Subterranean honestly and truly deserves the award, and here's why: If you have three bucks and an hour to kill, you will kill it thoroughly at Subterranean, and you will have something to show for it when you walk out. Yes, if you want... More »
2002 | Best Place to Find Dirty French Novels

"Pornography" is a funny word. It literally means "one-handed writing," which implies that your other hand is doing ... well, you know. Before photography and Internet porn, it took the degenerate French novelists and their nondescriptly packaged tomes to give hardworking Americans manual release. Genet, Bataille, Nin and Huysmans, they wrote beautiful prose celebrating sexuality, debauchery, perversion and all manner of titillation that is either smutty or sublime, depending on your moral... More »
2002 | Best Used-Book Store

Although only two years old, Subterranean is a already a favorite among book nuts. The store boasts hardcover and paperback titles that examine just about everything, at some of the best prices in town. If you're looking for an older book, Subterranean probably has it or its staff at least knows what you're talking about and can offer you tips on how to get it. The store carries contemporary authors as well and stocks a handful of new books to fill in gaps in used availability. There are... More »
2001 | Best Used-Book Store

You won't be scolded when browsing the stacks at Subterranean Books; no one will spy to make sure you pull the book off the shelf the "right" way, nor will they give you a sideways glance if your purchase is "lowbrow" or "popular." They're nice people who obviously love the "previously owned and read" books they sell and assume that you love books just as much. In less than a year, Subterranean Books, which lives in the space once occupied by the far snootier A Collector's Books, has created... More »

No Beating Around the Bush: Georgia Scott's New Book, Down There, Is About Exactly What You Think It's About

By Aimee Levitt | Thu, February 2, 2012

Georgia Scott has been a visual journalist for The New York Times, run a bookstore/cafe in Harlem, traveled to 57 countries, published an international study of headwraps and has now produced a book w... More »
What the Dickens?! For Kids!

By Paul Friswold | Wed, January 25, 2012

John Hendrix makes a living creating illustrations and covers for periodicals such as the New York Times and Rolling Stone. It's a difficult field to break into, and it's just as difficult to maintain... More »
Less Is More

By Paul Friswold | Thu, December 22, 2011

Time is running out if you want to see Paper Less, Bob Hartzell's show at Subterranean Books (6275 Delmar Boulevard, University City; 314-962-6100 or www.subbooks.com). The local artist's exhibition of hand-pulled prints and light sculptures (ther... More »
Growing Up In Print

By Paul Friswold | Thu, September 22, 2011

John Porcellino's long running comic book, King Cat, is unique among semi-autobiographical indy comics in that it's evolved with its creator. In its early incarnation, King Cat was a classic example of '90s underground comics: sometimes angry, oft... More »

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rftbestof | St Lous, MO | 149 Reviews

| Wed, May 6, 2009

Writer Luc Sante likens looking around a room full of books to taking a journey; as your eye skips from title to title, images spring to mind and connections are made, snippets of data about the author bubble to the surface, times distant and long gone snap back to the present. It's one of life's greatest pleasures, walking into a bookstore and experiencing that frisson as the subsumed depths of your mind fire simultaneously, reminding you with a charge that your brain is a vaster realm than you sometimes credit. Scratch that � it's one of life's greatest pleasures walking in to Subterranean Books and experiencing those mental pyrotechnics, because this is a shop that caters to books and the people who love them. No ziggurats of one title loom on tables in the doorway, no racks of impulse buys, no movie tie-in toys, no cutouts of Dr. Phil hawking his latest "tome" occlude your sight. Owner Kelly von Plonski has re-created Subterranean in the past year, resetting the floor plan to better accommodate her belief that the greatest variety of titles on the broadest range of topics is the Tao of the bookstore. The upstairs is still an art gallery, but new shelves allow for a maximization of space so that expanded sections covering interior design, cooking and the DIY movement offer inspiration. The erotica has been moved to the front of the shop for ease of access, a now-close neighbor to shelves devoted to ritual magic, the Beats and an entire section devoted to Taschen Books' bizarre view of the world. Literature, one of the most evocative words in the English language, is the backbone of the store still, twin columns that run the length of the room. The journey of a thousand years begins here at Subterranean, as soon as you open your eyes.
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JamieK2 | Denver, CO | 131 Reviews

| Mon, August 2, 2010

Great little bookstore on the loop. Big selection.

Looking for another city?

Subterranean Books

6275 Delmar Blvd. St Louis, MO 63130

314-862-6100

Description

2011 | Best Book Store (Independent)

2008 | Best Book Store (Independent)

2007 | Best Book Store (Independent)

2005 | Best Book Store

2003 | Best Book Store

2002 | Best Place to Find Dirty French Novels

2002 | Best Used-Book Store

2001 | Best Used-Book Store

No Beating Around the Bush: Georgia Scott's New Book, Down There, Is About Exactly What You Think It's About

By Aimee Levitt | Thu, February 2, 2012

What the Dickens?! For Kids!

By Paul Friswold | Wed, January 25, 2012

Less Is More

By Paul Friswold | Thu, December 22, 2011

Growing Up In Print

By Paul Friswold | Thu, September 22, 2011

rftbestof | St Lous, MO | 149 Reviews

JamieK2 | Denver, CO | 131 Reviews