Pandemonium

Tucked between an H&R Block and a Tattoo Parlor in the eclectic Junction District sits an equally eclectic used book and music store named Pandemonium. Opened in 2000, this modest sized store is on the perfect balance between sterile big box store boredom and absolute chaos, packed with literary and musical gems all on the cheap.

Sometimes I forget why I love used bookstores. Most of the time the majority of books would be better suited for a quarter at a garage sale and I stand with my neck crooked looking through shelves hoping to find one decent read. At Pandemonium, this is not at all the case. I was impressed title after title in the fiction section, not just with books I had always wanted to read, but some books I had already read and really enjoyed. Significant selections of Vonnegut, Updike, Hornby, and Zadie Smith (to name just a few) and a refreshing lack of Grisham and Creighton and other blockbuster reads you can find anywhere. There is only so much shelf space after all.

There are two outside displays and they change somewhat frequently. When I stopped by, one featured over a dozen art books on Pablo Picasso and cubism, the other had some rare first edition books including one of the more famous photography books ever made, Richard Avedon's In the American West. It had a price tag of $100 even.

Pandemonium will satisfy much more than a craving for a good book to read. It has a healthy selection of children's books, art books, music and DVDs. The vinyl section is considerable with a wide variety of classic and contemporary records and accounts for half of the music sales in the store.

I spoke with Pandemonium owner Neill Cunningham about his store:

You're more than just a book store, how would you define/describe the store to people who have never been there?

Pandemonium is a great used books and music store in the Junction (a great neighborhood!). A funky, fun and literate bookstore with a well stocked record and CD selection - hence the name.

There are two other bookstores in the junction, how do you differentiate from the other two?

We all three complement each other quite well; I generally don't stock mass market paperbacks; preferring contemporary literature, while having solid sections of history, philosophy, mystery, science-fiction, film and music biography, as well as art, drama and poetry.

How do you end up choosing what books make up the limited space of your walls in your bookstore?

That is what makes each used store special. Book and music purchasing is an art not a science, my store reflects my own taste to a large extent, just like other bookstores, it is what gives each store its own personality.

Tell us about the original Dee Dee Ramone painting in the back of the store (pictured above).

My pride and joy. I wanted to get something special for the store and found the Dee Dee Ramone paintings. I really lucked out on the painting "Burger King" (of Dee Dee and Joey playing and singing, and a story about what the band ate on the road) because Dee Dee didn't paint the Ramones often. Sadly, Dee Dee died 2 months after I got it.

Do you ever find time to read between running the bookstore and having a life outside the bookstore?

I have a book on the go at home, and usually three at the store.