Friday, May 24: “I think Los Angeles reveals itself most at the margins.” This Friday evening, The Last Bookstore hosts the Los Angeles book launch for author LARRY FONDATION‘s fantastic new collection of short stories, Martyrs and Holymen, all of which are set in Los Angeles. Fondation has lived in LA since the 1980s and has worked for nearly 20 years as an organizer in South Los Angeles, Compton and East LA. If you’re unfamiliar with Fondation, Friday is a great opportunity to get acquainted with this author’s impeccable work. Please join us!

(Click here for further information)

Wednesday, May 15: The Last Bookstore presents MR. JOSEPH HELLEN: SURVIVING AUSCHWITZ 

Mr. Joseph Hellen was born in 1924 in Czechoslovakia. At age 15, he was arrested by Nazi soldiers, forced into the Auschwitz concentration camp and given the prisoner number, 64463. Mr. Hellen was one of the few to escape.

Today, Mr. Hellen survives as a successful business developer, owning properties in Downtown Los Angeles and surround areas. He is a part-time resident of Downtown Los Angeles, where he visits three to four times yearly. His left forearm continues to bear the tattooed identification number, etched in dark green ink.

Please join us for an evening with Mr. Hellen as he shares his story for the first time.

(Click here for further information)

Sunday, May 5: National Security Correspondent for The Nation magazine and New York Times bestselling author of Blackwater, JEREMY SCAHILL will visit The Last Bookstore with his latest title, Dirty Wars: The World Is a Battlefield.

Scahill has reported from Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Nigeria, Yemen, the former Yugoslavia and elsewhere across the globe. Scahill’s work has sparked several Congressional investigations and won some of journalism’s highest honors. He was twice awarded the prestigious George Polk Award, in 1998 for foreign reporting and in 2008 for his book Blackwater.

(Click here for more information)

Tuesday, April 23: GUY BLAKESLEE and violinist and bassist PAZ LENCHANTIN, both of The Entrance Band, perform solo sets with poetry and readings from special guests at The Last Bookstore. The store will be closing early at 8:30pm, with the doors re-opening at 9:00pm. Tickets are required to attend. For more information, go here.

Saturday, April 20: Rare Bird Lit, Bookforum, Granta, ZYZZYVA & Slake Media celebrate the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at The Last Bookstore this evening from 7:30pm to 11:00pm.

This event is open to the public and will feature writers Jonathan Gold, Jerry Stahl, Luke Davies, Joseph Mattson, Rich Ferguson, Richard Kramer, Chip Jacobs, Tosh Berman, Marc Weingarten and others.

Sunday, April 14th 8PM: Punk rock historian and co-author of Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk, LEGS McNEIL will be a guest at The Last Bookstore to preview new material from his forthcoming title, Live Through This: A True Love Story.

McNeil recently spoke with Chris Ziegler at OBEY about the book (a book he didn’t want to write), the therapist he’s going to strangle, Iggy & more.

Full interview here / Event info here.

Wednesday, April 10: The Last Bookstore will be closing early at 6:45pm due to a private event. We apologize for any inconvenience.

 Thursday, April 11 at 6PM: Author and iconoclastic geographer, DENIS WOOD joins us to celebrate the second edition of EVERYTHING SINGS: Maps for a Narrative Atlas.

Join us for an exciting evening of wide-ranging conversation between two writers with equally critical and imaginative faculties. DAVID ULIN, book critic for the Los Angeles Times will dig into Wood’s process and influences as well the myriad connections his map making draws between seemingly disparate things.

The event is free, and Wood will also be available to sign books. More info here.

Tuesday, April 2: The Last Bookstore welcomes legendary ska band, THE SKATALITES!

Further details here!

The Last Bookstore makes the Los Angeles Times!

Read the full feature here.

Two Things!

One:  If you think you booked an event (especially a recurring one) at The Last Bookstore with one of our previous events team (either Peter or Billy) and you have not confirmed it with either Josh or Rebekah in the past month or you do not see it on our website calendar (to the right), PLEASE email us with the details of your event and when you thought it was booked for.

Two:  The Last Bookstore is going to be closed this Saturday night, Mar 2 at 6:30pm for a private event AFTER the Jonathan Lethem Talking Covers event.  We’re open all day, though!  And don’t forget to visit our booth at the Grand Park Bookfest on Saturday, either!