City Lights Booksellers Publishers - the Beats - View this location on map If San Francisco is the home of the Beat Generation, then City Lights is the living room. Owner and Beat poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti is a North Beach fixture. When he published Allen Ginsburg's Howl in 1956 he wound up defending himself (successfuly) against obscenity charges in a landmark First Amendment case. Fir fifty years City Lights has been a champion of the free press and progressive ideas. The press has over 100 titles in print - all available here plus world literature, progressive politics books, and an extensive poetry section. The store regularly hosts free readings and other literary events on their third floor. Cultural

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