Symposium Books540 Westminster St., Providence (click for map)(401) 944-1330Open 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Mon. to Fri.
Symposium Books is on the intersection of Union and Westminster Streets - an area probably not populated with high-end boutiques when they moved in four years ago - in a tall building made of light-colored bricks with "The Alice Building" etched on its front.
Art and design books crowd the window - modern architecture, black and white photography, Hieronymous Bosch between volumes on Roy Lichtenstein and Retail Graphics. The store's interior, with its black shelves and cement floor, matches the cool industrial-turned-artsy vibe of its Downcity neighborhood, as does its offering of intelligent, unusual and high-quality books.
Symposium began as a wholesale business that bought books that had been returned to publishers and sold them out of a warehouse in Providence. This remains their basic business model today, though they now have retail stores in Providence and Boston in addition to a Web site. The owners of the store don't select individual titles, but they know what they're getting because they only buy from small, independent publishers or university presses. Almost all the books at Symposium are discounted, usually at 40 to 60 percent off the original price. But these aren't the dusty, threadbare stacks some used bookstores offer. These books are new, with creamy paper and attractive matte-finish covers that make you want to pick them up.
The books are organized by topic. The store has rows of eye-catching books on art and design, plus those on academic topics like anthropology or political theory, with an extensive selection on philosophy. There are four full shelves devoted to literature, with poetry and drama shelved separately. Literary theory and criticism occupies almost as much space. The poetry runs along the lines of City Lights or New Directions publications - I paused at adorable, four-inch-high volumes of Jack Kerouac poetry, but placed the tiny books back on the shelf between their more serious neighbors.
Symposium also has shelves on film, media and television, religious studies and Eastern philosophies and religions. There's even a small travel section and a few children's books and graphic novels near the front of the store.
It's a great place to find academic materials (including cheap hardcovers) or fiction from more off-the-beaten-track presses (nothing from Penguin or Random House), or just to browse the shelves, flip through the photography books and maybe pick up a copy of ArtForum or the New York Review of Books - or the newest work of a local poet.
I went in and asked for the latest Roberto Bolaño translation, which they didn't have. The salesman pointed me instead to their newest shipment, a series of translations and classics recently reprinted by the New York Review of Books. I chose a collection of short fiction by an obscure early Soviet writer named Platonov. I'd never heard of him, but I bought the book because I liked the dim black and white photo on the cover and the price ($5.98 - did I mention that these books are cheap?). I also realized I implicitly trusted Symposium's literary taste, as silly as that sounds. It's a store full of very good books. You're just more likely to find something here if you don't go in looking for it.
