Dunaway Books

Saint Louis, United States

4.3

Closed now

20 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards

Contacts

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Telephone:
+1 314-771-7150
Website:
www.dunawaybooks.com
Address:
3111 S Grand Blvd, Saint Louis, MO, 63118
Tower Grove South
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
0.7 miCherokee Street at Minnesota Avenue
1.9 miMETROLINK Grand
2.5 miMETROLINK Union Station
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Bussiness info

Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Parking
Street
Bike Parking
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes

Today

Today 11:00 am – 7:00 pm
Closed now
Local time (Saint Louis) 7:26 AM Friday, November 29, 2024

Business hours

Monday 11:00 am – 7:00 pm
Tuesday 11:00 am – 7:00 pm
Wednesday 11:00 am – 7:00 pm
Thursday 11:00 am – 7:00 pm
Friday 11:00 am – 7:00 pm
Saturday 10:00 am – 7:00 pm
Sunday 12:00 pm – 7:00 pm

Description

Specialties

Dunaway Books is an absolutely necessary stop for the bibliophile on the «Grand» South Grand strip. Housed within an airy, spacious former gallery, we carry an unparalleled selection of fine used, out of print and rare volumes. Upon stepping into our store, you’ll find aisle after aisle of scrupulously collected books treating a broad variety of subjects in depth. We keep new small-​press titles by local authors or local subjects up at the front, childrens books beneath the mezzanine and and shelves of CDs for music lovers. There is something here for everyone. Whether you have a few hours or just a few minutes to while away, Dunaway Books is designed to be an intellectually and creatively stimulating place for the scholar, the collector, and the good old-​fashioned voracious reader.

History

Established in 1965.

Pat Dunaway founded Dunaway Books on Delmar across from what is now the Pageant. It was a small, jam-​packed space complete with a cat and an amazing card catalog system which he used to track his purchases, sales and customer preferences.

Development in the Loop lead to rent that ballooned out of control and Pat was forced to move. But where and how could he afford it? A specialty book buyer and stamp expert, Walter Morris, came up with a plan. He’d buy the store from Pat, move it to a larger place on Grand and hire Pat to run it. So, in 2002, that is exactly what they did; moving into the large and airy former home of Futon Express and Curve of the Earth.

Unfortunately, Pat’s cat soon passed, followed by Pat himself. Neither could ever be replaced. In 2010, collector, Victorian golfer and all-​around English gentleman Peter Herrington purchased the store with the intention of being a very hands-​on owner.

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Related places

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Vicinity

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20 reviews of Dunaway Books

No registration required
Place rating: 4
Bowling Green, OH
today was my first experience here. it is a really awesome place. tons of magical old books at very reasonable prices. I got a book on breadnmaking for $ 5 that would have cost $ 35 or so new. Notably, the website has their inventory on it, so you can go there first if you are looking for something specific. you should go there though.
Place rating: 4
Fairview Heights, IL
Probably one of my favorite used books stores in the St. Louis area. They have a wonderful selection to choose from, and all categories are easily accessible.
Place rating: 5
Tower Grove South, Saint Louis, MO
Not a place to go in looking for a particular book (at least from my experience), but such a great place to wander around in and pick up something you normally wouldn’t have thought of before. I could spend hours in the basement reading and smelling that old book smell.
Place rating: 2
Saint Louis, MO
I was not very impressed. There are lots of books, yes, but somehow the selection was very lacking. I cycled through a list of roughly 15 authors, none of whom had any books on the shelf. How does a bookstore not have any Ray Bradbury in stock? Also, I had a question regarding crime fiction and I referenced Jim Thompson and the clerk had no idea who I was talking about.
Place rating: 5
Saint Louis, MO
One of my favorite bookstores in St. Louis, hands down. Friendly staff, and a huge variety of used/​rare books. Get lost in here, you won’t regret it.
Place rating: 4
Houston, TX
Stumbled upon this gem today during my bike ride to see who had their New Years Day doors open. The organization is excellent (category wise — not alphabetically). Down-​to-​earth staff. And shelves and shelves of new adventures. Bring your coffee and stay awhile. I wouldn’t mind living here.
Place rating: 4
St Louis, MO
You’ve heard of the «Never Ending Story», well Dunaway Books is the never ending bookstore. There are bookcases after bookcases on the first floor and mezzanine. As if that weren’t enough for you to browse through, the basement is full of more treasured reads.
Each bookcase or section is plainly labeled to make your search easy. They also have little maps like at an amusement park stating, «you are here» and showing you where you need to go for the type of book you have on your shopping list.
When shopping most used bookstores, they feel musty and dusty to me, but not here at Dunaway. It is well organized and very well kept. The salesman with his British accent made me feel like I was in an old 40’s black and white movie and he was the shopkeeper.
I didn’t find the two books I was searching for, but this place impressed me just the same and I am now a fan. I recommend this bookstore to any avid reader aka bookworm. It will totally give them a readers orgasm if there is such a thing.
Place rating: 4
Saint Louis, MO
Great shop! Huge selection– I’ve been there a couple times and feel like I’ve yet to see it all. It’s a lot more organized than most used bookstores I’ve been in. I’m a big Sherlock Holmes fan, and they’ve got a section set aside from general mystery for Holmes and Holmes-​inspired works that made it a lot easier to find something new to read. Staff is hugely friendly and helpful too!
Place rating: 4
Saint Louis, MO
This is one of my favorite used bookstores ever. It is LARGE.
I go for the fiction section. Whoever does the buying has a good eye. The condition of the selection is impressive. There are no ex-​library books here. Lots of the books have jackets.
I took some books in for trade-​in recently. I was offered $ 25 cash for a pretty big pile. This was not totally satisfactory to me, but we agreed upon $ 40 store credit, which will keep me coming back for awhile.
The downside is that there are no cats here. Bookstores should have cats.
Place rating: 5
Saint Louis, MO
I love Dunaway Books. Huge selection of books and well organized. Their American and European history sections (in the basement) are awe-​inspiring. And — Score! — I got a copy of «Albion’s Seed» British Folkways in America” at a reasonable price.
Only complaint I have is their extensive collection of vintage science fiction magazines — my son is addicted to them and our house is filling up with ancient copies of Analog and the like! :)
Place rating: 5
St Louis, MO
What a wonderful place! We stopped by just minutes after closing time, but the owner was working late so he let us roam around. Great selection of old books you won’t find at a large retail bookstore. The owner is big about travel books — the kind written in the 16th century with detailed drawings because color photos didn’t exist back then.
It’s an amazingly huge bookstore — a great place to get lost in and discover books on topics you’ve always wanted to read about, but have forgotten to look for!
Place rating: 4
Wheat Ridge, CO
Found this place as I got lost looking for a new coffeehouse, and I’m so glad I stopped! Walked away with four new fiction books that I had my eye on for a while– I just needed to find them at a decent price.
The selection here is vast, with a variety of books that you might not find anywhere else– especially at a chain. Because there are so many books, it can take a while to sort through all the duds, which is the only thing preventing me from giving it five stars. The staff helped me discover a new author and helped me find exactly what I needed. The store is well organized, which is always a plus for me.
Place rating: 5
Maryville, IL
Found this location by chance. Stumbled in and found the bookshelfs neatly labeled with handwritten scratch paper etc. Irony at its best ! I walked in not knowing I wanted or needed anything and walked out with two books on Mayan archeology since I just had returned from Mexico and seen the pyramids. I didn’t make it past the Latin American books but I’m sure I will return with hot cappucino in hand to re-​aquaint myself with the store and the owners who so graciously asked me about my travels and told me about themselves and their marriage. Very happy couple who found a way to connect with all their customers.
Support this store. I never thought it would feel so awesome to buy a used book more than the printed price from 1959… classic.
Very clean and efficient. Accepts credit cards for purchases over $ 5
Place rating: 4
Durango, CO
I adore Dunaway and make sure I go back to visit at least once every couple of months. I can’t do much more than that because I would seriously spend every penny I have on used books, even ones I know I’ll never read.
Dunaway books is almost what I anticipate my own bookstore will some day feel like. The rows are clearly marked and the place is sparkling clean, although the telltale smell of ancient leather binding as well as the faint musk of rotting paper definitely gives your location away.
Although I would not recommend this store to young children I started bringing Hammer in when she was barely lifting her head. Since she has been raised in the environment she knows now, as a toddler, what is appropriate behavior and what is not when dealing with books of any form. In a time where print will be obsolete in five years I think it’s important to instill the love of the written word as soon as possible. So if you have the inclination this is a great place to do it because she’s always been welcomed.
The only thing I think that is missing from this store is a sense of community. Maybe it’s because I don’t live in the South Grand Area but I never really feel like I «belong» in the store. Sometimes it feels as if I have encroached on someones secret library instead of being invited in to share in the treasure.
Place rating: 4
Seattle, WA
I often debate whether to read through reviews before writing my own, but in this case… I have to say that I don’t know why everyone is getting their panties in a twist over a catless book shop. It’s like smoking in bars, I suppose. But just for the record, I prefer my purchases to not include pet dander or being eyeballed for a potential death strike by crouching tiger, hidden dragon.
Now that we’ve cleared that up, this is one of the better used bookstores in St. Louis by far. I appreciate their labor and women’s history books, and tend to check here first before going to Borders, etc if I need it right away. They’re more likely to have what I need. I’m not a big fiction reader, so I cannot attest to the quality of those sections. However, while not the most extensive I’ve ever seen, Dunaway cuts the crap out of their selection and only sells the good stuff.
Place rating: 4
Washington, DC
Good for general used books. Spacious, well organized, and a heavy old-​book smell.
The book stock is large (100,000 or so), and some sections were robust (like fiction).
But other parts aren’t as good as they look; a few of the nonfiction sections had a tired thrift store look to them. Probably because they skimmed 12,000 rarer, older, and more desirable books away to a warehouse somewhere to sell online. Oh well.
Place rating: 5
Saint Louis, MO
I love this place.
I live nearby and wander in sometimes. Maybe I leave with a book I’ve been looking for. Maybe I leave with a book I never knew I was looking for. Maybe I don’t buy anything at all, but that seems OK, too.
And I, for one, am glad there are no cats. I can stay longer that way.
Place rating: 4
Tallahassee, FL
This is by far the best used book store I’ve found in St. Louis. After three years in Seattle, I’m spoiled when it comes to quality used books merchants and this place was a real breath of fresh air. It has a reasonably good, and reasonably priced, selection. I found a few must haves in my own area (medieval/​early modern european history) and it seemed there was a real wealth in other things as well. The store has a particularly large literary criticism section.
I would have loved to see more medieval and renaissance texts, the scholarly witchcraft stuff somewhere *other* than the «occult» section, and more foreign language stuff that isn’t French or German.
All in all, a good store. I agree with some of you though, they ought to have a cat!
Place rating: 4
Saint Louis, MO
As much as I would love to give this place 5 stars… a used book store with no cat? That’s just unacceptable to me.
However, I have never, EVER, in my 10 years of used book store shopping, found a store as well organized and easy to navigate as this one. You can find anything you are looking for within 10 minutes of being in the store. If you can’t find it, just ask one of the awesome staff… they will either (1) pull it off the shelf immediately for you and give you 4 other similar suggestions you will love or (2) tell you they don’t have it (which never happens to me at least) and still give you some suggestions.
They take many of your used books as well which has certainly helped me cut down on my spending over the years… who needs books once they have read them anyway? Might as well let someone else get some use out of your old stuff while getting a discount on your own new reading material as well. Well, that’s my opinion at least.
Still though, get a cat… then I can up my score to 5 stars in good conscious.
Place rating: 5
Fenton, MO
I love used book stores, so it comes as no surprise that Dunaway Books would be no exception. What sets this place apart from so many others, however, is the organization and lighting. How many times have you been to a used book store where you’re daunted by the sheer volume of titles, unable to find what you want, and end up just giving up? I can’t count the number of times this has happened to me, and I feel your pain.
Dunaway Books is clean, uncluttered, well-​lit, and easily organized. Signs hang from the ceiling and are posted everywhere so you won’t feel overwhelmed by their selection, which is ample. What I love about Dunaway, also, is that the books aren’t overpriced. I found an out-​of-​print hardback copy of a John Gardner classic for $ 8. I think it was going on E-​bay for three times that! Check it out.