The Monkey's Paw is an independent used

bookstore Bookselling is the commercial trading of books, which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, book people, bookmen, or bookwomen. History The found ...

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Canada known for its eclectic, arcane, and absurd books, and for the Biblio-Mat, a random book vending machine. Owner Stephen Fowler founded The Monkey's Paw in 2006, four years after he moved to Toronto from

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, where he worked in numerous bookstores. Fowler opened The Monkey's Paw in order to support his family with another income source. The inspiration and book selection methods of the store is based on his work in a previous San Francisco bookstore that placed books that were too unique, specific, or unusual for a single-subject category under a miscellaneous section "Floop". Many, including the owner, consider the store itself a showcase and homage to the printed

book A book is a structured presentation of recorded information, primarily verbal and graphical, through a medium. Originally physical, electronic books and audiobooks are now existent. Physical books are objects that contain printed material, ...

, which they believe to be dying

medium Medium may refer to: Aircraft *Medium bomber, a class of warplane * Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''The Medium'' (1921 film), a German silent film * ''The Medium'' (1951 film), a film vers ...

. Due to the notoriety and uniqueness of the bookstore, Fowler was invited to join the

International League of Antiquarian Booksellers The International League of Antiquarian Booksellers is a non-profit international federation of bookseller associations, with its legal location in London, UK. It unites 22 national associations of Antiquarian Booksellers, representing over 1600 ...

The New York Times Style Magazine ''T: The New York Times Style Magazine'', known simply as ''T'', is a perfect-bound magazine publication of ''The New York Times'' newspaper dedicated to fashion, living, beauty, holiday, travel, and design coverage. ''T'' is not a suppleme ...

quoted the owner, "It's the store where you'll find the book you didn't know you were looking for."

References

External links

The Monkey's Paw websiteCBC 1Day : The Monkey's Paw Bookstore
Independent bookstores of Canada Shops in Toronto Antiquarian booksellers {{canada-retail-company-stub