Cody’s Books

I miss Cody’s and since they closed about 3 years ago, that corner on Telegraph Avenue remains empty and lonely. I walked past this former literary shrine just last Saturday. And with the empty kitty corner lot, several police making an arrest, and lots of local «culture», I felt that I was on the set of Fort Apache the Bronx.
There is so much to remember and cherish about this store. Thinking of this Passover Season, Cody’s used to have their own Haggadah (or «telling») and an in-​house expert. The magazine section was huge and varied and the readings area upstairs was well attended. Most of all, I enjoyed the people buzz as knowledgeable folks on both sides of the counter came to browse and enjoy amongst the literature that they loved.

My favorite bookstore in Berkeley. Wide selection of books. Two levels. Had author events and signings. Mellow vibe. Only thing missing really was some comfortable chairs. I was v. sad when I heard it was closing. RIP Cody’s.

What a shame that they are closed. They used to have all the free newspapers there and flyers for all sorts of local events. They cared about their customers.
Had a great selection of books of photographs, I used to always like to look at the photo books.
Also they had comic books. But what was really amazing is that they had this huge magazine section full of the newest magazines and you could go in there and just read magazines forever. Fashion magazines, transsexual magazines, goth magazines, tons of photography magazines, Zines, everything, you name. Everything you had ever heard of plus more. Sometimes the magazine section was really crowded because so many people were in there reading them. Perhaps that’s why they went out of business, people just sitting around looking at tattoo magazines instead of spending money.
They also used to have authors come there and talk.
R.I.P. Cody’s. A Berkeley landmark.

Good riddance. The staff was unfriendly and Moe’s is great and next door.

Cody’s on Fourth Street is still OPEN !!!
I, too, miss Cody’s on the Ave, the flower stand out front, the «mezzanine,» the there that was THERE, but to support the type of independent bookstore that is still Cody’s, trek on down to 4^th Street. This Cody’s has a friendly «front-​yard» with tables & chairs, benches ~and~ a tree to sit under.

This store was so cool. It was the best of the best. They had many authors reading and signing there, giving great lectures, selling cool books. I once waited outside for hours and shook Bill Clinton’s hand and he signed my copy of My Life. I will never wash my hands again. Bring ye back oh Cody’s. Who closed Cody’s? Facists.

I used to live next door to the Telegraph Avenue Cody’s. It told me I was home after a long drive. I can’t bear to drive by this corner and see it… CLOSED…NOOOOOO!!! It broke my heart when I heard about it.
I’m too sickened by this turn of events to be funny or irreverent. It’s horribly sad.
I have to go lie down in a dark room now…

R.I.P. CODY’S!
We will always remember you …
even when a Halloween superstore is in your place (a total F*$^&ing travesty to humankind).
Love,
Your loyal Berkeley community

Cody’s and Moe’s definitely made a great one two punch in the days before Amazon and the like. RIP

i attended a david sedaris reading here in 2000. there were like 10 people there and i thought he would never have more than a collegiate gay cult following. so say, people like me. obviously, i was wrong because this fool now has the mass appeal of a short, white, homosexual Oprah. Anyhoo — the reading was great and he actually told us a couple of tales about «the rooster» and signed my book, «to laura who is a hottie» which is all true because my name is laura and i am a hottie. he was very funny and I had a delightful time. Cody’s on telegraph always had the best readings.
I miss this place… what is it now? like a Wet Seal or something?

Like others before me, I feel a debt owed to Cody’s for the years of participation and activism it has brought into the Berkeley community. Cody’s books was well known in the 60’s and 70’s for guest speakers and activists. Just last spring, I was still visiting Cody’s books to listen to poetry readings on certain weeknights. I had a feeling that business wasn’t doing too well as I would hardly see anyone ever buying books. Like most bookstores, customers came, sat in a corner and read and left without ever buying the book.
Cody’s is great for that. It has such a wide array of books and hard to find pieces of literature. There are a lot of academic journals and other pieces of artsy writing that you don’t usually find elsewhere. Sure, their prices are a little higher than normal, but I think that’s the price they had to pay in order to live by their ethics and sell the type of hard-​to-​obtain material they wanted to sell. They were the epitome of everything opposite of a mass-​market online superstore like Amazon is. Whenever I went into Cody’s, Moe’s (next door) and Shakespeare (directly adjacent), I felt good about myself, knowing that I was supporting the privately owned little businesses.
I recall going to visit Cody’s on it’s final day and buying a sweatshirt from there in remembrance of the store. Even though there’s still two more locations (one in Union Sq in downtown and one on 4^th street near Berkeley Marina), this location will always remain the flagship location to me and many others. On the final day, many news stations were there on scene, broadcasting and saying goodbye to Cody’s. I had a brief conversation with one of the owners of the store and he told me that they were no competition with online superstores like Amazon or B&
anymore. They couldn’t compete with their prices. Even with shipping, their prices still beat Cody’s. Did you know that most of B&N’s revenue nowadays is coming mainly from online sales?
I think the closing of Cody’s books should serve as a reminder to us about the importance of actual bookstores. We need to support our local community and the private retailers. It’s not always about getting the best bang for the buck. If it costs an additional $ 0.25 to buy from a privately owned business, then why not pay it, knowing you’re supporting your local community?
Whatever happened to pet shops? I reminisce my childhood years when I would go to the pet shop with my parents to look at cats and dogs in the little windows. Those are long gone and instead have been replaced strictly by classified ads and online dog and cat breeders.
I think the closing of Cody’s books symbolized much more than just a loss of a great local bookstore, but moreover it shows that our society is quickly being sold out by consumer-​friendly prices. We’ve become a much more automatize world, only caring about what’s cheap and forgetting about our local community.
Support local farmers and businesses! (how did this review turn out like this? you must be able to tell that I live in Berkeley)…

OK, I know this bookstore is closed, but since I just started Unilocaling I need to write a review of Cody’s.
Cody’s was an amazing bookstore. Their selection of highly technical books in physics and math was unparalleled. This may have been part of the reason they went out of business — they have really amazing, really esoteric books in highly technical topics that probably sat on the shelves for years before anyone purchased them.
Their selection of other books in other categories, especially computers, was equally amazing. In fact, I was extremely disappointed after visiting their San Francisco location to see the difference in the quality of books carried.

«CODY’S BOOKS ON TELEGRAPH AVE. IN BERKELEY TO CLOSE IT’S DOORS»
I heard the story on the news and was devastated. I couldn’t believe my ears…
After 43 years, Cody’s Telegraph – a historic landmark – was gone. I can’t help but think that if those walls could talk, what stories they’d have to tell. After all, they’d served THE 60’s GENERATION, for heaven’s sake! To me, Cody’s Books was just as much an institution as Cal Berkeley… well, okay, not *quite*…but you know what I mean.
I would often lose myself within the confines of it’s extensive magazine section. Yep… those were the days.
:o (

I LOVED Cody’s till it’s very last day… and it’s a crime against nature/​humanity/​all-​that-​is-​good to see it turned into a Halloween Superstore.
Gone are the endless shelves of award-​winning and sometimes hard to find literature. Now you get endless shelves of cheap nylon/​polyester genitalia and condiment costumes. What the shit is that? Boo.

I grew up with this bookstore, and I am very sad to find out that it will be closing its doors this summer.
I love this store, and I will miss it so terribly much. =(

Cody’s Books makes the book browsing and buying experience a very pleasant one. You never feel overwhelmed by their broad selection, and the books stacked by the front on the tables are always amazing — good selections, as opposed to box bookstores like Borders.

I love to spend a couple hours on a lazy weekend looking through the interesting books they have. I am so glad that Cody’s now has a store in Downtown, which is much more accessible from where I live. In the age of
, which to me is the most convenient place to find a book you are looking for, a bookstore is a good place to find a book when you have no idea what you want to read. If you spend 1 – 2 hours at Cody, you will surely find something you want to read.

Definitely my favorite bookstore. I love going there every few weeks because they spotlight some really great books (fiction and non-​fiction) right near the front of the store. I always end up putting some of those books on my «to read in the near future» list. The store is very well organized, clean, bright and spacious. The staff also knows its stuff so don’t hesitate to ask for opinions or recommendations. They also have discounts on bestselling books (to compete with BN, Borders, etc.).
They have a separate room for the magazine section (possibly the most comprehensive I’ve ever seen).
They now have three locations and all three have the same feel. They also draw all the bigname authors to speak at one of their locations.

This is a place for great finds. I enjoy walking down the aisles and just exploring the place.
I bought three first-​edition Don Marquis books and a first-​edition of Dariaux’s Elegance, a cultural classic. All cost a little less than $ 5 or $ 6 apiece.

UPDATE: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Cody’s, I loved you so… WHY did you have to leave me so soon? I bought books every week… I bought more foreign magazines than I could carry every month… WHY!!!
OLD REVIEW:
If you are addicted to books, do not go within four blocks of this bookstore! !!
I can resist boutiques, flowers, coffee shops, ANYTHING… but this, this is something else. Every time I walk down Telegraph I find myself in Cody’s, my sweaty little hands grasping some brilliant book I found on the first stand… Really, it’s just mean of them. Besides the most extensive book collection in Berkeley, they also have a ROOM of all imaginable magazines [Italian design mags will be my downfall!] and a staff of very well-​read people who will NOT miss the chance to recommend something GREAT if you look like you were about to slither out of the store empty-​handed.
I blame Cody’s for the fact that I know and love Kundera.