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Mother Foucault's Bookshop
Rare books, warm ambiance, and thoughtful conversations.
4.7
Retail Store
$$
Rare books, warm ambiance, and thoughtful conversations.
Mother Foucault's Bookshop in Portland offers a curated selection of old, rare, and beautiful titles across fiction, poetry, philosophy, literary criticism, art, and history. Customers praise knowledgeable staff, a fantastic ambiance, and events, with an outdoor seating area and coffee. The welcoming atmosphere inspires thoughtful browsing and memorable purchases.
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Curated selection of old, rare, and collectible books across genres like fiction, poetry, and philosophy.
Carefully chosen new titles in literary criticism, art, history, and essential literature.
Enjoy coffee while browsing or relaxing in the quaint outdoor area with tables and fresh water.
Hosts community events, readings, and gatherings to foster literary and cultural engagement.
Friendly, expert staff provide personalized recommendations and insights, including poetry quotes.
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Overall rating
Abbie Lu
Old world magical cozy bookshop. This is a let your heart lead you type of shop. Slow down take your time and peruse. They also serve coffee. Beautiful and whimsical and delightfully chaotic and warm. I recommend checking them out.
Alicia Love
To be transported to another time, another world. This shop is whimsical, delightful, and has the kind of quiet the world *used* to have. Old records playing gently, typewriters, vintage cameras, and piles and shelves of books, old and older, at reasonable prices. It smells exactly the way you wish it would and the floors creak exactly the way you dream they would. I could spend a whole lifetime in this store.
Melissa Brown
Easily, Portland's quirkiest purely used bookstore, for sure. Piles of intriguing books in all directions. No one here has really the slightest clue as to what's available (or where). Go with that anarchic used text flow and come prepared to dig around and deep for all the biblio-treasures you never knew you absolutely needed to live way better. Strange, delightful stock of foreign, mainly European, books from top-grade, Euro publishers. Need Habermas translated into Italian, Adorno's complete letters in the original German, Descartes methodically translated into Spanish, a classic Czech novel in Czech??? Well, then, Mother's is your happy book home! Look for the very odd Art History hallway and secret, cached storage carts for global artistries. Aspiring thespians on alert: great selection of Anglophone text plays on offer. Curious photography and architecture texts on site, too. Go find them! There's a cafe now on the premises, too. I mean, what's not to love?? So tell Foucault's Mom that you love her!
Federico Trentin
Evan Antone
Absolutely amazing book store, they’ve got EVERYTHING you could possibly want to read. The vibes are so relaxing. They don’t allow use of phones or laptops, which I love because it allows you to be in the moment and take everything in. 10/10 would recommend
Chandler Petrie
Hands down the coolest bookstore in Portland, maybe the world. The kind you walk in to with no book in mind and walk out of with ten you didn’t know existed. It’s curated so well. If you’re a fan of bookstores you simply have to check this one out.
