That bookstore in Portland everyone loves is overrated

I finally made it to Powell's Books last weekend after hearing people rave about it for years. Spent two hours wandering around and honestly, the layout is a mess. Half the shelves were blocked by people sitting on the floor reading, and I couldn't find a single thing in the mystery section. Am I missing something or is it just a big used bookstore with good marketing?

2 comments

2 Comments

eric_price12d ago

Oh man, thank you for saying this. I had the exact same experience last year. The layout is just pure chaos, like they threw books on shelves and hoped for the best. People park themselves in the middle of every aisle too, it's impossible to browse without stepping over someone's backpack. I spent forty minutes looking for the science fiction section and finally gave up. It's honestly just a big warehouse of books with a decent reputation from twenty years ago.

butler.shane12d ago

The science fiction section thing cracks me up because my friend told me the same thing last month. He drove forty five minutes to get there, specifically for a book they said they had in stock online. Spent an hour wandering around, asked three different employees, and finally one guy just shrugged and said "it's sort of in the back somewhere." He never found it. Ended up buying a coffee mug from the front counter just so the trip didn't feel like a total waste.