Radically Literate

OVER THE LAST YEAR or so, the ActivSpace building on
SE 9th and Main has quietly become a hub of the sort of activity best
described as “very Portland.” The Portland Radio Authority broadcasts
from a street-level studio; vegan-friendly bakery Black Sheep has a
bike-through window; local publisher Microcosm’s shop is jammed to the
ceilings with comics, zines, and the DIY guides that have been selling
particularly well this year.

The newest addition to this progressive little pod is Copyleft
Books, a closet-sized bookstore whose shelves are marked by something
many politically oriented bookstores don’t have: a fiction section.
Copyleft has an appealingly eclectic inventory, stocked with books
scouted at garage and estate sales, as well as titles from the couple’s
own collection. In addition to the predictable activist fare (sections
on animal rights and anarchism; copies of CrimethInc. manual Expect
Resistance), you’ll find a sci-fi section stocked with vintage
Philip K. Dick paperbacks, an offbeat selection of old comedy titles,
and a small graphic novel section. (And for those drawn to the fringes,
several shelves are hosted by distributors Last Earth, who specialize
in more esoteric titles—Improvised Weapons of the American
Underground, anyone?)

The store also buys and trades books, with an eye toward vintage and
unusual titles. But is there anything they won’t take?

“Definitely not romance novels,” co-owner Adam Burger says. “Those
are not coming into this store.”