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City Lights

bookstore, San Francisco, California, United States

Quick Summary

City Lights is a bookstore in San Francisco, California, cofounded in 1953 by poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti. It quickly became a central hub for avant-garde writers, particularly the Beat movement. The publishing arm of City Lights was instrumental in printing early works by Beat poets, including Allen Ginsberg's Howl and Other Poems. Ferlinghetti's own poetry collections, such as A Coney Island of the Mind, achieved significant popularity, making him one of the best-selling American poets of the late 20th century. The bookstore continues to be a landmark for literature and culture.12

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