Wooden Shoe Books

Great selection of books, zines, magazines and DVDs.
I ask one question though: Why, if you work or volunteer in a space where people come in all day long, do you insist on being so shy and non-​responsive? You work in a store that theoretically, you want people to come into. Maybe its better if the shy, unfriendly and phone obsessed people not work the counter? I tried to make small talk with people there only to be met with shy looks on their faces.

They have an OK selection of feminist texts. A few black feminism books and essays on uplifting disadvantaged POC, classism. Also, a huuuge selection on books regarding the prison industrial conplex. I saw some queer/​trans* lit in the window display. Nice sale selection. Some of the books feel used or have post it notes stuck to them with warnings that certain parts are right-​leaning. I would come back here to buy more feminist books and maybe check out some zines. Volunteer was helpful.
There are some signs that make me wonder about the anarchism of this place but I’m just a feminist killjoy.

this is where i take my friends from portland when they’re in town and feel homesick.

I went here Friday night for a book launch/​essay reading for a book called «Defiant Daughters: 21 Women on Art, Activism, Animals and The Sexual Politics of Meat.» (A friend of mine has an essay published in it!)
Very cool joint, run entirely by volunteers, I’m totally impressed. If you have any leftist leanings whatsoever, this is the place for you. I’ll definitely be back to peruse the shelves more closely, lots of stuff I want to learn more about in this bookshop.
I’m really thankful that stores like this exist. I never could have found anything like Wooden Shoe Books in Miami, add this to the list of things I love about being in Philly.

I went there for the first time this afternoon, in order to check out their selection of zines. They had a lot of them, it seemed to me. Reminded me of the 1990s, when bookstores had the zines in magazine racks. So anyway, I bought a few that looked promising.
BUT… the guy SHORTED me a dollar on my change, which I take to be an anarchic maneuver to divest me of my ill-​gotten capitalist blood money.

The Shoe is very inspiring. I can get lost in there learning about how things work or about new things I can fix on my own. Their postcard section sparks me to go on correspondence binges. And the folks are always kind and helpful. Insightful too– they’re always interested in having a conversation about whatever.
Some folks have said the prices are too high, but I’ve never seen anything over the list price. Whatever is printed on the cover seems to be what you pay, same as any other book store I’ve ever been too. You might could order it cheaper online, but not if you want to continue to have a place where you can see free speakers, discuss with folks, read a table of contents. I’d definitely recommend the Wooden Shoe!

best store. if they dont have what you want they will order it. great events. great community space. fun times. the staffers are nice. handicapped accessible and pet friendly. they sell books for the published price and are a non-​profit collective. people here complaining that the books are too expensive dont factor in store front costs.

I could easily write a review of this bookstore.
If I were colorful — and possibly overreaching — I could call it a «bastion of political thought» or «a haven of great liberal philosophy and theory.» That’s «liberal» in the most traditional sense of the word.
If further motivated, I could say that the general atmosphere of the store is «highly literate, with a mind toward progressive thought. No soundbites, no slogans, no glad-​handing, no glossed over bipartisan agendas. The politics here are an amorphous concept, to be digested and, like alchemy, put into action– as they were in the coffeehouses and taverns at the dawn of this nation’s birth.»
I would pepper throughout the names of Chomsky, Zinn, Hofstadter and Marcus Garvey. I would add Cornel West, Chalmers Johnson, Malcolm X and Naomi Klein. And I wouldn’t completely mind the fact that many within the above store would take issue with some of the above.
But, from my personal viewpoint, I find politics to be a deeply held belief, like all Big Concepts — religion, sexuality, spirituality, etc. They are personal and, quite possibly, innate. So, I keep my political viewpoint close to the vest, and anonymously browse the shelves.
If this were a review, I would deduct a point due to the fact that, as far as I can tell, the store lacks a sense of humor. I find humor essential to political discourse. An applicable quote by the always-​relevant Groucho Marx: «Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedies.»
But this isn’t a review.
IT’S ONE-​WAY TICKET TO FUNTOWN!
Follow along…
If you’re ever bored and are looking for a fun new experience, I can direct you here to do so. The requirements are few and are cheaply and easily acquired:
1. Get a white t-​shirt and a black permanent marker (the ones that smell toxic are the best because you can add a little marker high to your project).
2. With the marker, write the following on the front (and, if bold, the back as well): «[BLANK] GOT WHAT HE DESERVED.”*
3. In place of the [BLANK] in the above sentence, insert one of the following names:
— Mumia Abu Jamal
— Leonard Peltier
— Fred Hampton
— Leon Czolgosz
— Harvey Milk
— Dr. Mutulu Shakur
— Oscar López Rivera
— Carlo Tresca
— Medgar Evers
4. Adorn your new creation and casually walk around the store, as you normally would at your local Barnes & Noble or Borders bookstores. Inquire about the coffee bar and their new e-​reader device.
5. Wait for the magic to happen.**
* Do not write [BLANK] (see step 3). On the other hand, go ahead and write [BLANK]. It could provide more interesting results.
**Please note that my definition of «magic» may differ from yours.

I’ve gone to Wooden Shoe multiple times over the years. I think most people here have summed up my issues with the store (prices are awful, volunteers can be less than welcoming, selection can be tight), but it sticks in my craw when I go to an «anarchist» bookstore and see fliers all over the place stating that Micheal Moore books are banned from the store. (Banned because they don’t like his position on Mumia.) I’m far from pro-​cop, especially in Philly, but the Michael Moore thing bothers me a lot. Perhaps they’ve changed their minds on this subject, but I’m not terribly hep on censoring a guy who, frankly, has done a hell of a lot more for left-​wing politics than anyone staffing the shoe. Also, as an anarchist, I sort of take issue with their mailing list being used as a way to get more laws created. (lolwhut???)
James G (who is more than happy to assume the «boss» roll as the public face of Wooden Shoe) claims that if you have problems with ideological bent of the store, you can hug it out with him. When I listed off a few complaints to a mutual Facebook friend, he popped on to screech at me. (I was unaware that he was also on this young lady’s Facebook friends.) I was told to «fuck off» and I had an incident attributed to me that never happened. (I was also told that I was an anarcho-​capitalist. My boyfriend and I had a gut busting laugh about that.)
I get it, you guys are super cool «anarchist» types who get really threatened by anyone’s criticisms of your store, but I really don’t think that’s a great way to run a business. I haven’t been to the Shoe in several years now. Up until a few months ago, it had been because I just didn’t have the money to do so, but now it’s because I’m not too happy with the treatment received by James Generic. I think that his below comment (which I thought was against Unilocal policies!) speaks more about his customer service skills than amount of Shoe based criticism could.
As for me, I’ll just stick with Powell’s in the future when I need to get my lefty book fix. At better prices and selection with less judgy ‘tudes, it’s worth the week long wait for my books.

It’s nice to see a place like this survive in a neighborhood that’s being increaslingly gentrified and taken over by chain retail. You won’t find any Dan Brown or Stephen King on the shelves but you will find small press, self-​published and harder to find material. Most of the material is political, but there is also a small section on art/​film, cookbooks, DIY and music. The prices are fair and the sale prices are great.
The record/​cd selection is small, but filled with gems. If you’re the type to plaster your Prius with left-​wing radical political statements, they have a giant selection of bumper stickers for you to peruse. Same goes for patches and buttons.
The staff is polite and helpful. Some of the other customers are definitely too-​cool-​for-​school but ignore them. They smell, anyway. Just focus on being in a nice place with cool stuff run by dedicated peole.

Wooden Shoe automatically gets 5 stars for having a laptop in the back for customers to use. When it gets crowded there’s a 15 minute limit, but when I was in there, I happened to be the only customer in the store so I didn’t have to worry about that. I was hoping to find an internet café nearby, and much to my dismay, the 8^th Street Internet Café had closed down. Fortunately I was able to do whatever I needed to do on the laptop at Wooden Shoe, plus I picked up a nifty little button that says, «Support local music.» Didn’t really browse the book selection, but the guys working there (or should I say volunteering… it’s all volunteer-​based and they are always looking for new people to volunteer) were nice and made conversation with me. I will definitely be back!

I’ve been here twice and I’m really impressed.
If you’re at all interested in counter-​culture, left-​leaning politics, etc., this is the bookstore for you. You can find a wealth of books here that are difficult to find anywhere else unless you order them online.
Just to be clear, this is NOT your typical bookstore. This is not the place to go if you’re looking for Harry Potter, Dean Koontz, etc. Books by and about Chomsky, Naomi Klein, Mumia Abu Jamal, and Che Guevara abound. Eff-​the-​Man T-​shirts are available too (not my style, but fun to look at and laugh at).
The staff has always been helpful and friendly. I’ve never encountered judgment or pretentiousness.
Most of the books are sold at cover price unless they’re on sale. So it’s not the best place to get cheap books. The high prices don’t bother me. This place probably sell 3 books a day since they cater to such a niche crowd. I’m sure they’re barely keeping the lights on. And from what I’ve read of other reviews, it’s volunteer-​run, so I don’t mind spending a few extra bucks to support such a unique small business.

Overpriced books. Even the sale items. They also have a minimum $ 15 credit card requirement.
Its a fun place to browse and I’ve been to several of their film screenings and talks/​discussions which were very interesting and stimulating.

The Shoe is a cool for off the wall anarchist books and other cool stuff to show your disdain of the government, but never go in with the intention of picking up something specific because chances are you’ll be let down… that is unless it’s Chomsky. There’s plenty of Chomsky to go around.
The hours are usually a bit off the wall, but the store is run solely on volunteer time, which also explains the intelligence of some. We picked up a book on Bloody Sunday in Derry and the clerk had no clue what the hell it was about. How can you be a ‘fuck the system anarchist’ and not know that Bloody Sunday is more than a fucking U2 song?! Jeez. I love the atmosphere of the place as well as some of the convictions, but this whole experience brought me down a star easily.
I’ve never been to movie night but if you’re the total conspiracy theorist check out their site for a listing. You’ll also find a bunch of other cool links and blogs there as well.
If you love the message of the shoe but never seem to find what you’re looking for check out
. They’re a total anarchist, indie shop with some great books and prices better than the shoe. The patches online are $ 1 to start and the stickers start a $.25 compared to the $ 3-​$ 4 Shoe prices and all their shirts are all American made and sweatshop free… none of the Gildan or Hanes crap.
I just find the selection there better than the store… sorry. But if you’re a college student looking for a place to hang and find some quick read for a report or just hanging around South Street they’re still worth the trip.

The Wooden Shoe sometimes has movie nights and readings and whatnot — if you’re into that sort of thing, you can sign up for their listserv. The prices are okay, I’d check out the clearance section where they mark down books from 3 — 10 bucks or so.
And I can vouch for the employees being jerks — I used to volunteer here until I realized that they weren’t interested in actually helping anyone learn anything.

This is the first book store that I ever set foot into in Philadelphia. and it certainly gave me an interesting perspective of what to expect from the others. I had a friend who used to volunteer there and she showed me all the cool Wicca books and button selection that they had. Anarchy can be fun, and they have an abundance of it. but it’s definitely not all they have.
As Nicole R. says you can definitely find a lot of quirky hardcore albums here. and the T Shirts are pretty damn cool. You can also imagine all of the interesting fliers that they have for events, and the informational pamphlets that they get.

Great bookstore if you’re looking to read about left wing politics and Latin revolutions of any kind.
Don’t ask the employees for help. They’re basically jerks who are there to judge you.

Chomsky. Man, that guy is a character!
Anyway, check out the t-​shirt they have displayed in the window: Bush: International Terrorist. I believe a guy was actually removed from a flight in Australia for wearing that shirt. If you buy one, you too could lose your flying privileges. Isn’t that swell?! Aren’t political t-​shirts swell?!
Is it just me or does it sort of smell like BO in the Wooden Shoe? I mean, err, it’s very bearable. Not horrible BO. Just, umm, BO. Straight up. Part of the ambiance I suppose. Very anarchist.

Get your anarchy on. I was only going to give it 3 stars, but then realized that there is probably no other store in the city where one could get their fill of societal upheaval, race relations and t-​shirts that say «F*CK.»
I didn’t know that the staff is volunteer, but it makes sense. Last time I was there a woman came in and asked if she could take a picture of the guy working for a photo project called «Faces of Philly» (Phaces of Philly?). He said sure, but then asked if he had to look at the camera… yeah, its that kind of place.

I’m the first to review Wooden Shoe? Sweeeet!
Wooden Shoe is your go-​to spot in Philly for books about growing poppies for opium production, Re/​Search books on body mods, self-​sustainability, wicca, fetishes or pretty much anything Noël Chomsky ever wrote. Even if you can’t read, you can look smart with little anarchist buttons or buttons for completely obscure vegan punk bands. If you are really dedicated, you can donate your time to sell books to others because their staff is volunteer-​based, comprised mainly of West Philly anarcho-​punks.
They also have CD’s and records by the previously mentioned unknown vegan punks, hardcore bands and other weird musical adventures.