What Tsunami Books is known for
This South Eugene shop on Willamette Street shelves more than 30,000 new and used titles alongside vinyl and rotating work by local artists. It doubles as a performance space, having hosted thousands of readings, concerts, and workshops over two decades.
Tsunami Books is an independent, locally owned bookstore at 2585 Willamette Street in South Eugene, Oregon. Its hand-picked stock runs to over 30,000 used and new books. Cards and postcards sit alongside a small collection of vinyl LPs and rotating art and crafts from the local community. Many of the shelves and fixtures come from recycled sources, including reclaimed bleacher boards from more than 20 school gymnasiums across the Northwest. Over its years on Willamette Street the shop has hosted more than 3,000 community activities. These range from author events and writers' workshops to poetry slams and concerts, and once a wedding. Scott Landfield has been a worker and owner of Tsunami Books for 29 years. He came to Oregon in 1978 to plant trees and planted over two million of them across a 20-year career. Eugene Weekly reported in 2021 that the store had started a publishing arm, Tsunami Press, formed in July 2021 with editors Steve Ellerhoff and Valerie Ihsan. Its first title was Ken Babbs' Cronies, a memoir of adventures with Ken Kesey, Neal Cassady, the Merry Pranksters and the Grateful Dead. After thirty years of paying rent, the shop is now asking supporters to help it buy the property. New titles are discounted and orders ship free anywhere in the United States.
In the press
- Eugene Weekly 2021
Best for — Used books and community events
Where next
- Cabeza Montiel — Seville
- space1-15 — Sapporo
- Ikutoen Pottery Works — Naha
Hand-curated for ORBIS · no paid placement