Avant-garde lit? It's all in the Family
THE often-parroted line is that indie bookstores are DOA in the 21st century, fallen victim to the formidable onslaught of Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com and continued reader apathy. And the statistics on the ground would seem to confirm that thesis, considering the recent closures of Angeleno institutions such as Dutton's North Hollywood, the blink-and-you-missed-it Dutton's Beverly Hills and the possible uprooting of the Brentwood Dutton's store.
But don't tell that to the crowd of twentysomethings gathered at Family, a recently opened independent book, record and clothing store on Fairfax Avenue, where a capacity crowd spills out onto the street on an unseasonably hot Sunday evening. At the moment, they're listening to a reading/slide show presentation of Ian Svenonius' new book, "The Psychic Soviet." But the week before, the store hosted a wake for the shuttered cult magazine Arthur. And the week before that, hundreds flocked to the Family launch party for a set by local indie-rock royalty Lavender Diamond.
If you look closely, you can see the fledgling beginnings of a new Los Angeles scene, one removed from the hipster enclaves of Silver Lake and Echo Park and including this unorthodox bookstore, the brainchild of cartoonist Sammy Harkham and his wife, Tahli, along with their friend and partner, writer-journalist David Kramer.
"It's a real counterculture of what's happening in L.A. right now," said Harkham, a co-owner of the recently revitalized Silent Movie Theatre. "Interesting things are happening between the Arthur connection and the bands. A real scene is emerging and coming together. This place is working as the hub. People can see and feel our aesthetic."
Indeed, the store's aesthetic reflects the owners' left-field sensibilities. A new Dave Eggers book lies next to an obscure 7-inch noise-rock record, next to a Daniel Clowes graphic novel, next to a DVD of the 1983 comedy, "The Man With Two Brains." Stuff there one week will be gone the next, as Family's owners don't do reorders and are obsessed with making sure that the bookstore isn't stagnant.
As for the "counterculture" crowd, it consists of a mishmash of various underground scenes: noise rockers, antiwar kids, bearded and bespectacled Eastside males, arty Bohemian girls in black leggings and striped shirts -- and even the occasional senior citizen strolling in off the street after chomping on stuffed cabbage at Canter's. The address might say Fairfax Avenue, but the vibe is more Parisian Left Bank.
