Across the Willamette River, Mother Foucault’s Bookshop has inhabited 523 SE Morrison St. for 10 years. Through large, green trimmed windows, pedestrians can see the slanting stacks and towering shelves of books within. The sign above the windows is slightly faded, but the maroon sandwich board sitting on the sidewalk is an invitation to experience the aroma of used pages and the overwhelming medley of titles, colors and sizes dimly lit by a variety of lamps and chandeliers.
Upon entering, owner Craig Florence or bookshop clerk Will Spray can be found welcoming customers, reading or answering the phone at a desk with varying heights of piled books and a typewriter.
Florence is a fan of Michel Foucault, the French philosopher and historian who lived from 1926 to 1984. The name Mother Foucault’s is inspired by the philosopher, but is also a bit of a joke and a fun way to answer the phone. There are plans for a second shop to open in Amsterdam, which Florence has named Other Foucault’s.
Mother Foucault’s Bookshop is a place for wandering. Titles vary from old and vintage to a few books whose pages have never been turned. The shelves are not perfectly organized, making the search for books a treasure hunt that is neither for the faint of heart nor those on a time crunch.
Genres are labeled on the wooden shelves or above them on chalkboard walls. Mother Foucault’s Bookshop tends to specialize in foreign language, philosophy, poetry and translated works.
After closing due to the pandemic, the bookshop was able to successfully reopen in July 2021. However, the shop has not been able to host any of the events they have in the past such as poetry, author readings and occasional live music.
While the COVID-19 pandemic has had a more recent impact on small, local bookshops, another factor that impacts the success of independent bookshops are large corporations. Amazon is one of the main conglomerates that affect book sales at places like Mother Foucault’s.
“We do not compete with Amazon, we are a different category,” Spray said.
Amazon cannot provide the atmosphere, community or experience that creates the culture of independent, hole-in-the-wall bookshops. At Mother Foucault’s Bookshop, Florence has created a bookstore experience that fills the soul.
“Bookstore patrons are a weird breed,” Spray said. “We exist for them.”
Bookshops can be a place of community, though perhaps less so during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. But stores like Mother Foucault’s serve as gathering places for folks who prefer the feel of the page to swiping a screen and have souls that seem to remember being in a candle-lit space filled by paper and words. Throughout many places and times a bookshop was a safe-house where one could share opinions and intellectual ideas.
When buying a book from Mother Foucault’s Bookshop, consumers get to experience the unique atmosphere that Florence has created, with books full of words that have been read by many eyes and touched by many hands.
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