old books for new times at l’insoumise

What I liked most at L’Insoumise, the Latin Quarter anarchist bookstore, was at the back. An Emma Goldman poster the size of a decent TV screen said: “I want freedom, the right to self-expression; everybody’s right to beautiful, radiant things.”

Nearby, a mother defined anarchism to her teen-aged daughter. “It’s craziness! Chaos! Everybody running around with their hands in the air!”

So which is it - freedom or lawlessness? utopia or disorder?

L’Insoumise, an anarchist bookstore, library and independent media center, does a great job addressing the topic’s two sides. The mission of this sliver of a space (L’Insoumise means unsubdued, or rebellious) is to make anarchist information available.

The shop’s most popular section is Marxist writings. Art and fiction, with Camus and Orwell among the favorites, is also much visited. Half of the books are in French, half in English, most are used.

There are sections dedicated to classics, poetry, drama, theater, contemporary anarchists, the history of anarchism, feminism, green architecture, animal liberation, Chomsky on foreign policy, surrealism, psychology, children.

They sell pamplets, magazines and newspapers, as well.

Booksellers are friendly and knowledgeable - and impeccably organized. Not far from the mother/daughter duo, an employee made his way through the section on the Spanish Civil war - lining the book spines up evenly with the edge of the wooden shelf.

Have you been to L’Insoumise?  Purchased books or attended events there?  Share your experience.

If you go:
2033 Blvd St-Laurent
(514) 313-3489