Unoppressive Non-Imperialist Bargain Books

New York, United States

3.9

Open now

20 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards

Contacts

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Telephone:
+1 212-229-0079
Website:
unoppressivebooks.blogspot.com
Address:
34 Carmine St, New York, NY, 10014
b/t Avenue Of The Americas & Bedford St
West Village
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
500 ft6th Avenue & West Houston Street
610 ftWest 4th Street-Washington Square (A,B,C,D,E,F,M)
800 ftHouston Street (1)
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Bussiness info

Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Accepts Apple Pay
Yes
Parking
Street
Bike Parking
No
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
Dogs Allowed
Yes

Today

Today 11:00 am – 12:00 am
Open now
Local time (New York) 1:38 PM Friday, November 29, 2024

Business hours

Monday 11:00 am – 10:00 pm
Tuesday 11:00 am – 10:00 pm
Wednesday 11:00 am – 10:00 pm
Thursday 11:00 am – 10:00 pm
Friday 11:00 am – 12:00 am
Saturday 11:00 am – 12:00 am
Sunday 11:00 am – 10:00 pm

Description

Specialties

Quality bargain books, always BELOW HALF retail price!

We specialize in highly curated Art, Philosophy, Fiction, Science Fiction, Spirituality, Eastern Thought, Comic Art, Literature, Beat Culture, and more!

Some of our favorites: William Blake, Shakespeare, Aldous Huxley, Alan Watts, Art Spiegelman, Allen Ginsberg, more than 30 Bob Dylan books, Che Guevara, Noam Chomsky, Jack Kerouac, Robert Crumb, J. Krishnamurti, Philip K. Dick, and many others!

History

Established in 1992.

Unoppressive (on your wallet) started as a small bargain book shop on a then sleepy street as an afterthought to our wholesale export business of remainders & overstocks. We modestly had no ambition to take over the industry (non-​imperialistic) and have since become a legendary destination for hundreds of devotees from all over the world who find treasures on impulse the moment they dare to visit. We eventually grew in the summer of 2001 to a larger space next door in the same building as Carmine Street became more lively. All of our books are below half price, usually well below. The large awning with sign boldly proclaiming Unoppressive Non-​Imperialist Bargain Books gets chuckles daily from every new person passing by. Our life size cardboard cut out of Bob Dylan in the window holds a sign announcing more than 35 books by and about him. We have become a mecca for Bob Dylan devotees too as a result. We also offer news on Twitter & a Facebook group & now offer mail order.

Meet the Business Owner

James D.

Business Owner

It is usually obvious that our own literary & cultural tastes and passions are reflected in this choice little book shop and fortunately the public is drawn into it with little or no resistance. The skill of procuring amazing prices has become part of our DNA by now, essential to our survival. The earliest retail book shop experience was starting a tiny book shop in my reckless youth in Manhattan Beach in Brooklyn under the name, «Unknown Obscure Little Book Shop» in the early 1970s which led to the more dynamic creation and running of a major full price book shop in Soho during its early emergence in the middle 1970s on Spring Street known then as New Morning Books (owned by High Times Magazine). The mission of spreading excellent books throughout the world soon became a wholesale endeavor filling container loads to England and Europe which we still do to this day. The wholesale efforts make it even easier to procure amazing prices. There can never be too many valuable books.

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20 reviews of Unoppressive Non-Imperialist Bargain Books

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Place rating: 1
Brooklyn, NY
Apparently being anti-​oppressive doesn’t keep you from being a dick. My friend and I walked in holding small cups of ice cream. We’re both grown-​ass women, and the ice cream was contained. Further, just in case anything threatened to drip, we stayed arm’s length from any books in the otherwise empty fiction section.
Next thing we know, the worker is talking audibly on the phone to someone and saying «these two people are in the store getting shit all over the books and they won’t leave.» He could have asked us nicely to step out until we finished. Instead he had to be a complete asshole about it and talk about us right in front of our faces.
Maybe because we’re brown, he didn’t think we spoke English? Or maybe this place survives on being rude to NYU undergrads looking to feel the full extent of their white, bourgeois guilt. Unoppressive indeed.
Place rating: 3
New York, NY
I love the name, and the name is probably why most people come here. Not a huge variety of books but definitely a great selection. I loved the whole bookshelf dedicated to Bob Dylan.
Place rating: 5
Brooklyn, NY
A mom and pop bookstore that’s sadly a dying breed. Don’t go for a specific book. Go with an open mind and to browse. You might even find something to buy here.
At the time I went, he had 2 shelves full of books about Bob Dylan, so if you like him, go here. There actually were classic books like The Hobbit, Brave New World. My choice of purchase was a book about the mafia.
Books are dirt cheap here. And he does accept credit cards.
Place rating: 1
New York, NY
this store is bs. it has a weird smell and a random array of books — what kind of bookstore doesnt have bukowski.
but the one star is cuz on the way out, the guy thought i was shoplifting a magazine i bought at the chelsea market.
wtf. your bookstore probably doesn’t even sell kinfolk, its too bougie for your anti-​establishment façade, which by the way, you immediately contradict by not trusting customers at the most basic level. no it meansyou care about money.
barnes and nobles is better than this place.
Place rating: 3
Manhattan, NY
A little book store designed for the tourists and curious at the sign — quite the name!
There’s a comics section and what I’ll dub the esoteric/​rest section. Books are at very reasonable prices, so that was nice, but not much in the way of organization, if you want to find something, ask the guy upfront.
Place rating: 5
Manhattan, NY
Awesome spot for bibliophiles with floor-​to-​ceiling books from some of the most unique literary minds in the world. You could lose a day here… and you should.
Place rating: 4
Atlanta, GA
Quirky and Cheap. Happy to get in and out and find interesting plane reading material. Always fun to stumble around NYC. The clerks are friendly and efficient. The Unilocal coupon happened be a good bonus deal.
Place rating: 4
London, United Kingdom
We had watched Jenny Slate’s film «Obvious Child» while hanging out with some friends in New York, and she worked at this store. And then while walking the next day, we came across the store. And so we went in.
Good story, right?
Well, story or not, I am happy the events worked out like this because this place is great. A charming, small bookstore filled, filled, filled with unusual books. Apparently the owner stocks them himself so you’re going to find things here you’re not going to find elsewhere.
Don’t come here looking for one specific book, come looking for all books and you’ll find something you love.
Also, the books are insanely cheap and the staff super friendly. It’s a fantastic space to lose yourself in for a minute or an hour. Either way, happy reading!
Place rating: 5
Manhattan, NY
Such a great find in the heart of The Village.
They have a very interesting collection of books from travel to music to philosophy.
Jim, the owner of the store was a delight to talk to. Definitely going back to buy something obscure again.
Place rating: 5
Manhattan, NY
This is one of the top places in NYC if you had to visit. Started by Jim over 20 years ago, this bookstore is a NYC gem. The books are really cheap, and all are picked by the owner. It’s hard to find a more quaint and charming place in the city!
I also want to mention to tourists that the postcards here are the most characterful, and at a quarter each!
If you have time, drop by the bookstore and chat with Jim. He is extremely knowledgeable and funny, and I always leave the place with more knowledge than I went in.
They have an amazing collection of unoppressive books, such as Chomsky and Zinn, which are quite hard to find. Also there are books once in a while about revolutionary leaders like Castro, Che, or even randomly, LKY of Singapore. It’s fascinating to just browse and ask about each book.
That said, they are also carrying a large collection of Art Spiegleman’s «Maus», all from different languages, and sometimes signed!
William Blake and Bob Dylan are also some staples in the store.
Just go and visit. It’s an experience every time.
Place rating: 4
Richmond, VA
Catchy name, and It feels good to support the little guys, F you, b&n!
This is not a bookstore where you come to find a specific title that you want: it’s a place to peruse their odd discount collection, and maybe walk out with a deal. I scored a dragon book for my kid for six bucks. She’ll love it.
Unfortunately they don’t have bookmarks or bags with the crazy name.
I’m glad I chose a weird one for my last Unilocal review.
Au revoir–
Place rating: 4
New York, NY
The Unilocal checkin offer — as well as some confusion about the fact that this and Carmine St Comics are one and the same — drew me in here. Dig the selection, hopefully they’re around for a while longer.
Place rating: 4
Olympia, WA
If the name of the shop doesn’t immediately tickle your fancy, then perhaps you should go somewhere else. For all it’s name seems to suggest, there was only two copies of the Communist Manifesto than I could find. The shop has a bountiful selection of our greatest authors who stood up and said «I’m pretty sure our society is a farce and this is my vision» and if that just tugs you like it does me than this shop is for you. Prices are pretty good for what looked like primarily new or lightly used books. Great fiction, poetry, and interesting religious section. Not really the place for old books, but definitely the place to find a book Barnes and Noble won’t stock in-​store. I loved the «fiction for young and rebellious readers» section – saw some of my favorites as a kid!
All in all a very cool bookstore.
Place rating: 3
Manhattan, NY
I went in here because a friend of mine said how great it was. I don’t think I would ever go back into it. It just didn’t seem like much of anything I would ever read. It just seems like a bit of a novelty and one visit is about all I need. Maybe I missed something about it.
Place rating: 3
Long Island City, Queens, NY
In my opinion, this is only a good bookstore if you’re willing to forget what you’re looking for and prepared to browse what they actually have. Their prices are remarkably low, but so is their selection. Does it make me an imperialist that the books I want specifically are never here? Is the literature of William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway oppressive?
I think it’s tacky that the store now shares space with a phone vendor. But hell, I guess you have to do what you have to do to stay open?
Update: The owner sent me a message claiming that they now have Hemingway and the phone store is gone. Bully for him.
Place rating: 5
Manhattan, NY
I just happened by this place today and found a biography of Frank Zappa for $ 9.00 (tax included) that I had to get. They have an amazing collection; surprisingly, this was my first time here.
What bumped my rating up from four stars to five was reading on the flyer I took that they not only support the Occupy Wall Street movement, but they’ll soon be home to the Occupy library. We are the 99%!
Place rating: 4
Brooklyn, NY
Hahaha!
As a proud tree-​hugging liberal alumna of the great bastion of Free Speech and political movement, UC Berkeley (aka Berzerkeley), how could I NOT love a bookstore with the name of Unoppressive Non-​Imperialist Bargain Books?
Looking for material for your left wing agenda that would make the right wing conservatives (and Fox News) quake in their Guccis? You got it here! Need brainwashing storybooks* so you can raise a politically-​correct and gender neutral child? Come right on over!
The prices here are rock bottom. I bought Anna Karenina for $ 7.50. It’s a very small space, crammed with books from floor to ceiling. It’s not the best place to come if you have something specific in mind, but a place to go when you have time to peruse** and meander through the spaces to discover a literary delight.
*In all seriousness, the selection of books here are awesome. I picked up Newberry Award winner Shannon Hale’s Princess Academy and absolutely loved it. As an educator, how could I resist a story that underlined the importance of education and the changes that education creates not only in a community, but in the humanity of an individual. If you have a child or know of a child in elementary school, this book is a great gift.
**The proper definition of peruse is to examine something with care and at length.
Place rating: 5
College Park, MD
After checking out a couple of others of New York City’s world-​famous used bookstores and striking out on the book I was looking for — «Travels with Charley» by John Steinbeck — I felt pretty much like a character in Steinbeck’s most famous novel, «The Grapes of Wrath.» I was dirty from the dust of the old books, poor from buying novels I didn’t need (but really wanted), and hungry (but that was soon to remedied). So I did what the Joads did and I headed west thinking there was opportunity.
Thankfully, unlike those characters, while the store still didn’t have what I was looking for when I got there, at least those at my destination didn’t try to exploit my desperate condition.
But oh they could have. I felt like an Okie straight off the truck arrived in a golden land of plenty. I’ve seen many left-​wing bookstores in my day but this one goes well beyond just the political tomes they all carry. They’re there, of course. You can buy a Marx reader or Michael Moore’s newest (or a classic) rant here. But right next to these are books on art, meditation, and religion (you know, «the opiate of the masses,» and an anathema to many stores like this). They even carry a few right-​wing classic philosophical books like «The Prince.» Just not right-​wing modern publications.
But what really awed this hayseed was their relatively large fiction wall. While there wasn’t a single Steinbeck book, someone could build a library from their collection of classics and books from the last few years. And do it cheaply. Just like the name says this is a bargain bookstore. I saw books in here for less than the price of a drink at Starbucks. And they’re in great condition since, by and large, they’re overstock from larger stores and not used books.
While there was no «Travels with Charley» there is a huge travel section focused mainly on New York City — all just as discounted as everything else in the store. The next time I’m in New York, immediately when I get off the plane, I’m heading down to the West 4th Street subway stop to buy a bargain travel guide, map, and whatever else I need here.
One thing did bother me. The worker (that’s an appropriate job description here I would think) didn’t know who Steinbeck even was. I’m not sure how someone can work at a bookstore and not know that. But I am sure that this store gives power to the people. And to their wallets! Plus it’s pretty well organized (pun intended).
Place rating: 5
New York, NY
I really dig books. I really really dig this place. I heart this book store. I can’t believe a place like this exist in Manhattan. I can just imagine the rent in the West Village and with their book prices so low, how do they keep afloat? My only guess is that they have a loyal following.
They have all kinds of interesting books, including many books on Che Guevara, Bob Dylan, New York, Chomsky, etc. They have mostly non-​fiction books, and all priced well under market price. I was really amazed at the vast selection and the cheap prices!
I was looking for a NYC Street Map and I was in another store and the map was $ 5.50. But here, the map only cost $ 1.50. Can you believe it? Also they have many travel books and also many of the Culture Shock! series, all for around $ 3. This place is so awesome I can’t even begin to verbalize the happiness I feel!
Place rating: 5
Queens, NY
After a long haul exhaustive day in the workplace, which included diarrhea mixed with anxiety and stress, my co-​worker detox my stress and clear my mind from the hardship of a broken heart at Joe’s Pizza and Grom. After our stomachs were happy we came here to explore the many gems of Unoppressive Non-​Imperialist Bargain Books offer. We were both able to obtain books without breaking our respective budgets. There is a nice selection of art, art history, travel, plus health/​erotica, and of course, poetry which patrons can find new and used books in good condition. Yes, oddly health is in the same aisle/​section with erotica… no joke. The aisle may be cramped from floor to book shelves yet the merchandise is organized, unlike Strand. Boutique book stores like these, sadly, does not have a wide presence in New York.
As a prolific poet, avid journal writer I am in search for a journal respective: a good size of my favorite color with lines in a beautiful cover.
For a total of $ 9.00 for two classic literature poetry books and one novelity book, my wallet was happy. However, my mental state of mind is a complete disarray…