On April 27, veteran booksellers James Crossley and Amanda Clark will unveil their new bookstore, Leviathan Bookstore.
While they plan to open a permanent bricks-and-mortar location in St. Louis, Mo., before the end of 2024, Leviathan Bookstore will make its debut as a pop-up shop within Dunaway Books, a rare, used, and out-of-print bookstore located near Tower Grove Park that has been in business since 1965.
The Leviathan pop-up will encompass about 250 square feet within Dunaway Books and feature a "representation" of what Crossley and Clark plan to offer. Leviathan will sell all-new books for all ages, with a "little bit of everything for every taste," with Crossley noting that, personally, he likes "a lot of small press, translated fiction," and other titles that are "a little off the beaten path." He remarked that the plan is to be very "book forward," with minimal sidelines.
The pop-up will run through at least the end of the summer, and Clark and Crossley have a book cart trailer they plan to bring to farmers' markets and other destinations around St. Louis. They've talked with the Dunaway Books team about using their space for events, and they're up for doing off-site events as well.
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| James Crossley and Amanda Clark | |
In the meantime, the pair will be looking for a storefront to call their own. Asked if they were looking in any particular neighborhoods, Crossley said they were "open to everything," but being in the city itself has "the most appeal." He noted that there's a "city-county divide" in St. Louis that "once you're on the ground, you feel conscious of all the time," and they want to be in "the heart of the city."
On the subject of the store's name, Crossley explained that they liked it because of the "strong literary connections" as well as its connection to local history. In the early 19th century, a man named Albert Koch opened a museum in St. Louis featuring something called the Missouri Leviathan. Purported to be the remains of a truly massive prehistoric mammal, it turned out to be a work of fiction, with scientists eventually coming to the conclusion that Koch had "jammed multiple mastodon skeletons together."
Despite "this minor error in judgment," the pair wrote, "Koch is an inspiration for the scope of his vision, his eagerness to please the public, and yes, his chutzpah. That's why we're rolling up our sleeves, using what we find, and creating something we know will be truly grand...."
Together, Crossley and Clark have decades of experience in bookselling. Clark was a frontline bookseller and events and marketing manager for the Novel Neighbor in Webster Groves, Mo., before founding a tour company called Renegade STL and becoming a public historian and tours manager for the Missouri Historical Society. Crossley, meanwhile, began his bookselling career in Seattle, Wash., more than 20 years ago and most recently was the founding manager at Madison Books.
The pair met in 2018 while attending BookExpo, and what began with "trading bookselling tips" turned into a "cross-country relationship." Over the course of many visits, Crossley "got to really like St. Louis the city," and he became acquainted with Dunaway Books first as a customer.
Clark recalled stopping by Dunaway one evening to discuss the plans for Leviathan Books with Dunaway's owners Claudia Brodie and Kevin Twellman. When she and Crossley mentioned they were interested in launching as a pop-up before opening a permanent bricks-and-mortar location, "Claudia and Kevin immediately jumped in with what the next step would be, and it wasn’t long before the four of us had planned Leviathan's pop-up grand opening on April 27."
The IBD celebration, which will feature live music and refreshments from 5-7 p.m., will mark not only Leviathan's debut but also Dunaway's anniversary.
Crossley called St. Louis a "good bookstore town" with "room for more," and with Leviathan Bookstore, he and Clark hope to "make it an even better bookstore town." --Alex Mutter