Books and Mortar: Eso Won Books in Los Angeles

I dislike car culture so much, it’s rare for me to actually agree to drive to anything when visiting Los Angeles. Except maybe for Roy Choi‘s Kogi tacos.

And to visit Eso Won Books, a unique and charming bookstore in the historical Leimert Park neighborhood. The store recently made a cameo in an episode of HBO’s Insecure, the L.A.-based series by creator and star Issa Rae, who comments, as her alter ego Issa Dee, “it’s like my favorite place, ever. They support a lot of up-and-coming black writers.”

At Eso Won I was greeted by the affable , co-owner, who was behind the register. James had such a wide-ranging opinion of so many interesting reads, I ended up leaving with a pile of books—novels, nonfiction, children’s books—as did some of the family members who accompanied me. has called Eso Won his favorite bookstore in the world—it has something for everyone, including the writer who has done the sad bookstore signing where barely anyone shows up: In 1995 they hosted a young writer with a new memoir, and only about eight people showed; they ended up moving the chairs into a campfire type circle and had a nice intimate chat with the author … reading from his book Obama and have since done signings at the store (held at an off-site location, since the store is fairly small), as well as , , and a variety of local figures.