An Alternative Guide to Boston for ALA Midwinter, 2005
brought to you by Radical Reference's Boston crew
www.radicalreference.info

As good a starting place as any is Surface City, a "sort-of non-tourist, non-Citysearch guide to Boston." www.surfacecity.net

Wicked Good Guides
Includes Bizarro Boston, Neon Guide, and the Wicked Good Guide
to Boston English.
www.boston-online.com/wicked.html

Black Tea Society Guide (put together for the No DNC)
www.blackteasociety.org/bostonguide

Boston Phoenix
"Boston's Alternative Source for Arts and Entertainment"
www.bostonphoenix.com

BOOKSTORES

Antiquarian Books of Boston
Antiquarian, used, and scholarly books.
4 Milk St., #2-4, Downtown
617-292-4700
T: Red/Orange Line to Downtown Crossing

BookMarx Center for Marxist Education
550 Mass Ave., 2nd floor, Central Sq., Cambridge
617-354-2876
www.bookmarx.org
T: Red Line to Central Sq.

Brattle Book Shop
"Boston's most famous old bookshop"
9 West St., Downtown
617-542-0210
www.brattlebookshop.com
T: Red/Green Line to Park St. or Orange Line to Downtown Crossing

Brookline Booksmith
"An independent bookstore for independent minds."
279 Harvard St., Brookline
617-566-6660
www.brooklinebooksmith.com
T: Green Line to Coolidge Corner

Calamus Bookstore
"Boston's complete GLBT bookstore"
92B South St., Downtown
617-338-1931
www.calamusbooks.com
T: Red Line to South Station

Commonwealth Books
Scholarly, used, out-of-print, antiquarian bookstore.
134 Boylston St., Downtown
617-338-6328
www.commonwealthbooks.com
T: Green Line to Boylston

Cuttyhunk (formerly We Think the World of You)
"Community-centered gay bookstore"
540 Tremont St., Back Bay/South End
617-574-5000
www.wethinktheworldofyou.com
T: Green Line to Copley Square
T: Orange Line to Back Bay

Globe Corner Bookstore
Books and maps for travelers.
28 Church St., Harvard Sq., Cambridge
617-497-6277
www.globecorner.com
T: Red Line to Harvard Sq.

Grolier Poetry Shop
"The oldest continuous poetry book shop in the United States."
6 Plympton St., Harvard Sq., Cambridge
617-547-4648
www.grolierpoetrybookshop.com
T: Red Line to Harvard Sq.

Harvard Bookstore
Independent bookstore including great used books section.
1256 Massachusetts Ave., Harvard Sq., Cambridge
800-542-READ
www.harvard.com
T: Red Line to Harvard Sq.

James & Devon Gray Booksellers
Specializes in books printed before 1700.
12 Arrow St., Harvard Sq., Cambridge
617-868-0752
www.graybooksellers.com
T: Red Line to Harvard Sq.

Kate's Mystery Books
Greater Boston's only mystery bookstore.
2211 Massachusetts Ave., outside Porter Sq., Cambridge
617-491-2660
www.katesmysterybooks.com
T: Red Line to Porter Sq.

Lucy Parsons Bookstore
Boston's infoshop and radical community center
549 Columbus Ave., South End, Boston
617-267-6272
www.lucyparsons.org
T: Orange Line to Massachusetts Ave.

McIntyre & Moore Booksellers
"Greater Boston's best source for scholarly used books."
255 Elm St., Davis Sq., Somerville
617-629-4840
www.mcintyreandmoore.com
T: Red Line to Davis Sq.

Million Year Picnic
Comics and books.
99 Mount Auburn St., Harvard Sq., Cambridge
617-492-6763
world.std.com/~myp
T: Red Line to Harvard Sq.

MIT Press Bookstore
292 Main St., Kendall Sq., Cambridge
617-253-5249
mitpress.mit.edu/bookstore
T: Red Line to Kendall Sq.

New England Comics
Comics
www.newenglandcomics.com
131 Harvard Ave., Allston
617-783-1848
T: Green Line to B Line Harvard Ave.
316 Harvard St., Brookline
617-566-0115
T: Green Line to C Line Harvard Ave.
14A Eliot St., Harvard Sq., Cambridge
617-354-5352
T: Red Line to Harvard Sq.

Pandemonium Books & Games
Sci-fi and fantasy books
36 Jfk St., Harvard Sq., Cambridge
617-547-3721
www.pandemoniumbooks.com
T: Red Line to Harvard Sq.

Porter Square Bookstore
Independent bookstore
25 White St., Porter Sq., Cambridge
617-491-2220
www.portersquarebooks.com
T: Red Line to Porter Sq.

Rhythm & Muse
Books and music
470 Centre St., Jamaica Plain
617-524-6622
T: Orange Line to Stony Brook

Rodney's Bookstore
Used books
698 Massachusetts Ave., Central Sq., Cambridge
617-876-6467
www.abebooks.com/home/rodney
T: Red Line to Central Sq.

Schoenhof's Foreign Books
Books in hundreds of languages
76A Mt. Auburn St., Harvard Sq., Cambridge
617-547-8855
www.schoenhofs.com
T: Red Line to Harvard Sq.

Trident Booksellers & Café
Independent bookseller and café with breakfast served all day!
338 Newbury St., Back Bay
617-267-8688
www.tridentbookscafe.com
T: Green Line to Hynes Convention Center

Unicorn Books
Books & spiritual resource center
1971 Massachusetts Ave., Porter Sq., Cambridge
617-491-2666
www.unicornbooks.org
T: Red Line to Porter Sq.

MUSIC VENUES

Abbey Lounge
"Drinking establishment since 1933. Cheap Booze...Rock 'n Roll"
3 Beacon St., Inman Sq., Somerville
617-441-9631
www.schnockered.com/abbey/abbey.htm
T: #69 Bus to Hampshire/Cambridge streets
T: Red Line to Central Square

The Middle East Restaurant & Nightclub
Massachusetts Ave./Brookline St., Central Sq., Cambridge
www.mideastclub.com
T: Red Line to Central Sq.

Great Scott
1222 Commonwealth Ave., Allston
617-566-9014
www.theallstonplan.com/greatscott.html
T: Green B Line to Harvard Ave.

Jacque's Cabaret/Jacques Underground
"New England's best bar for female impersonation entertainment"/"Boston's best alternative music."
79 Broadway, Bay Village
617-426-8902
www.jacquescabaret.com/JacquesUnderground.htm
T: Green Line to Arlington St.

Midway Cafe
"Boston's Best Live Music"
3496 Washington St., Jamaica Plain
617-524-9038
www.midwaycafe.com
T: Orange Line to Forest Hills or Green St.

O'Brien's
"Food, Drink, and Entertainment"
3 Harvard Ave., Allston
617-782-6245
obriens.purp.org
T: Green B Line to Harvard Ave.

PA's Lounge
Small bar, just started having shows
Union Square, Somerville
www.paslounge.com
T: Red Line to Porter Sq. (cab ride)
T: Orange Line to Sullivan Sq. (cab ride)

TT the Bear's Place
10 Brookline St., Cambridge
www.ttthebears.com
T: Red Line to Central Sq.

NEWSPAPERS

Bay Windows

Boston's LGBT newspaper
www.baywindows.com

Boston-Bay State Banner
Boston's African American weekly newspaper
www.baystatebanner.com

Boston Indy
Local IMC's paper
boston.indymedia.org

Boston Phoenix
"Boston's Alternative Source for Arts and Entertainment"
www.bostonphoenix.com

Bridge
"Newspaper of the Mass. Green Rainbow Party"
www.bridgenews.org

Spare Change
Boston's street newspaper to benefit the homeless
www.homelessempowerment.org/our_programs.html

The Weekly Dig
"The Best Little Paper in Boston"
www.weeklydig.com/dig

Whats Up?
"Alternative arts and media paper helping homeless and at-risk individuals in the Boston area"
www.whatsupmagazine.org

RADIO STATIONS

WMBR 88.1 FM
MIT campus radio offers an eclectic mix of music and news programs including GenderTalk, Radio with a View, and What's Left.
www.wmbr.org

WERS 88.9 FM
Emerson campus radio includes folk, jazz, reggae, and world beat.
www.wers.org

WGBH 89.7 FM
Public radio station includes NPR, jazz, and classical.
www.wgbh.org

WZBC 90.3 FM
Boston College campus radio includes Democracy Now! and Sounds of Dissent.
www.bc.edu/bc_org/svp/st_org/wzbc

WBUR 90.9 FM
NPR affiliate
www.wbur.org

WMFO 91.5 FM
Tufts University campus radio includes No U-Turn & Promethean Commentary plus Jazz
www.wmfo.org

WUMB 91.9 FM
Folk radio
www.wumb.org

WILD 1090 AM
Classic Soul & R&B

RECORD STORES

Cheapo Records
Large vinyl, cd, cassette selection.
645 Mass. Ave., Central Sq., Cambridge
617-354-4455
T: Red Line to Central Sq.

Diskovery
A wonderful MESS of books and records.
113 Brighton Avenue, Allston
617-787-2640
T: Green B Line to Harvard Avenue

In Your Ear
" Preserving culture against the ongoing hype of newness and onslaught of new formats since 1982." Huge selection of punk, 60s beat, jazz, and an impressive (current and back issues) zine shelf. In Your Ear is run by a Simmons library school grad!
www.iye.com
957 Commonwealth Ave.
617-787-9755
T: Green B Line to St. Paul
72 Mount Auburn St., Harvard Sq., Cambridge
617-491-5035
T: Red Line to Harvard Sq.

Looney Tunes
Used including lots of pristine old jazz albums & 45s.
1106 Boylston St.
617-247-2238
T: Green Line to Kenmore Sq. (Near Berklee School of Music)

Mojo Records
Independent record store.
904 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge
617-547-9976
T: Red Line to Central or Harvard Sq.

Newbury Comics
Large local chain. Mostly records, mostly new some books, comics, etc.
332 Newbury St.
617-236-4930
www.newburycomics.com
T: Green Line to Hynes Convention Center
36 JFK St., Harvard Sq., Cambridge
617-491-0337
T: Red Line to Harvard Sq.

Nuggets
Largish, vinyl, cd, dvd, video, new & used.
486 Commonwealth Ave.
617-536-0679
T: Green Line to Kenmore Square

Planet Records
54b JFK St., Harvard Sq., Cambridge
617-492-0693
T: Red Line to Harvard

Re:Generation
New store! Seems to be mostly punk/hardcore.
Harvard Ave., Allston
T: Green B Line to Harvard Ave.

Sandy's Music
Instruments, "repairs, recordings & folklore"
896A Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge
617-491-2812
www.sandysmusic.com
T: Red Line to Central or Harvard Square

Second Coming Records
Hip-hop
1105 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge
617-576-6400
T: Red Line to Harvard

Skippy White's
Soul, R&B, jazz, etc. A local institution.
538 Massachusetts Ave., Central Sq., Cambridge
617-491-3345
T: Red Line to Central Sq.

Stereo Jack's
Specializes in jazz, folk and blues, 78s.
1686 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
617-497-9447
T: Red Line to Porter Sq.

Twisted Village
Small but good. Rare psyche, jazz, off-beat.
12B Eliot St., Harvard Sq., Cambridge
www.twistedvillage.com
T: Red Line to Harvard Sq.

THRIFT/SHOPPING

Boomerangs
716 Centre St., Jamaica Plain
617-524-5120
T: Orange Line to Green St.
298 Washington St., Brighton
617-787-0500
T: #57 Bus to Cambridge/Washington streets or #86 Bus to Market/Washington streets

Buckaroo's Mercantile
"A Modern Variety Store"
1297 Cambridge St., Inman Sq., Cambridge
617-492-4792
www.buckmerc.com
T: #69 Bus to Hampshire/Cambridge streets
T: Red Line to Central Square

Garment District
"An alternative department store."
200 Broadway, Cambridge
617-876-5230
www.garmentdistrict.com
T: Red Line to Kendall

Gumshoe Vintage
Great, small store with sporadic hours.
40 South St., Jamaica Plain
617-522-5066
T: #39 Bus to South Street and Carolina Avenue

Oona's
1210 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge
617-491-2654
T: Red Line to Harvard

Saint Vincent de Paul Thrift Shop
50 Prospect St., Cambridge
617-547-6924
T: Red Line to Central Square

Sheldon's Bargain Outlet
133 Salem St.
617-523-3914
T: Orange Line to Haymarket

Transitions
3368 Washington St., Jamaica Plain, MA
617-983-5685
T: Orange Line to Green Street