Book Soup

Book Soup

Company type	Independent bookstore
Industry	Retail (Books)
Founded	1975 (1975)
Founder	Glenn Goldman, David Mackler
Headquarters	West Hollywood , United States
Products	Books

Book Soup is an independent bookstore located at 8818 Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood, California, distinguished as Hollywood's largest independent bookstore catering to general interests. Favored by those in the entertainment sector, it regularly hosts events with celebrity authors such as Muhammad Ali, Howard Stern, and Chuck Palahniuk. Regarded as a "cultural landmark" along the Sunset Strip, Book Soup has also been featured in multiple movies and television productions.

History

Established in 1975 by Glenn Goldman and David Mackler, who were both graduate students at UCLA, the founders secured $50,000 to launch Book Soup on Sunset Boulevard. Goldman selected the site due to its promise of attracting a community receptive to a bookstore amid the cultural transformations of the 1960s. Mackler was responsible for designing the store’s interior, which initially operated with only two employees, including Goldman himself.

The store faced financial hardships for nearly twenty years and came close to shutting down several times until representatives from publishing houses stepped in to reinstate credit lines and offer financial support. In the late 1980s, Book Soup moved two blocks further along Sunset Boulevard into a larger venue, increasing its collection to 50,000 titles. It earned a strong reputation for its selection of art, photography, film, and music literature and became known for hosting prominent author appearances featuring individuals like Gore Vidal and James Ellroy.

A second outlet was launched at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, California in 2002 but was closed in 2007 due to high rental costs and competition from online retailers such as Amazon.com and major discount stores including Wal-Mart and Target. As of July 2017, Book Soup also maintains a location within the Tom Bradley International Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport.

On January 2, 2009, Goldman announced that he had sold Book Soup; he passed away from pancreatic cancer the following day. Subsequently, on October 9, 2009, Vroman's Bookstore entered into an agreement to purchase Book Soup.

Publicity stunts

Book Soup regularly organizes author readings and is recognized for publicity stunts designed to enhance customer interaction, often involving either authors or the bookstore itself. Significant instances include:

• Emma Watson unexpectedly appearing during friend and author Stephen Chbosky’s event for his book Imaginary Friend.
• Nicole Richie participating alongside Sasha Sagan in a discussion about Sagan’s book, For Small Creatures Such as We.
• At a reading by Paris Hilton, her publicist arranged for protesters holding signs stating "Read a book, don't write one."
• Following the UK ban on Peter Wright's exposé Spy Catcher, Book Soup placed an advertisement in Private Eye emphasizing its availability in the United States; this led to sales of 3,000 copies within three weeks.
• When Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses faced a fatwa, owner Goldman penned a ransom-style letter published in the Los Angeles Times defending freedom of expression; this action received praise from Rupert Murdoch.
• After the National Organization for Women criticized Bret Easton Ellis’s American Psycho, the bookstore distributed flyers clarifying its stance separate from the book’s content, resulting in 18 copies sold within one day.

In popular culture

• During her performance Letting Go of God, comedian Julia Sweeney references purchasing Karen Armstrong’s A History of God at Book Soup.
• The sister act Aly and AJ utilized the parking area of Book Soup for the photoshoot and promotional activities related to their EP Ten Years.
• The 2012 movie Celeste and Jesse Forever features the bookstore as one of its settings.