This is an amazing and rare bookstore - the selection is perfectly curated and eclectic. The resident dog is curious and patient and the service excellent. Great value if one knows how to find the right item. I will be coming back read more

It's open! Just looks closed because they have sheets covering their glass window. But just push on the door and it opens. Eclectic finds. Suggest you call before going just to be sure! read more

Yay! Kayo is open again, in a beautiful new space just a block west of their old location! The old space was, like most used bookstores (Green Apple, Russian Hill Books, Dog Eared, et al), a bit cramped and overflowing with printed matter, but this new space is more like a temple of vintage books and magazines -- airy, filled with light, and with plenty of space. I don't think I've ever been in a used book store that had such an elegant and spacious feel, and I've prowled through used book stores around the world. There's still a good selection of vintage pulp magazines & paperbacks, entire sections for various kinks, lots of art books, and a surprising selection of high-end volumes to choose from (a signed copy of Evelyn Waugh's "Love Among the Ruins"?! Be still, my credit card!) If you miss San Francisco's late, great used bookstores (Acorn, Albatross, Fields', et al), take heart: we still have at least ten, now that Kayo is back among us, and Kayo's selection and foci are unique among them. Discover the unique treasures that Kayo offers! read more

This isn't the best bookstore in the city. It's the best bookstore in the universe! Beware: Kayo isn't your run-of-the-mill bookstore. It's stuffed full of comics, pulp, sci-fi, and vintage sleaze. I easily spend hours browsing through the hilarious soft-core smut every time I visit. Don't call me Pervert. Call me Friend, Man Fan, Coworker, Neighbor, Dad. On second thought, don't call me Dad. K thx bye! The books I enjoy skimming through are the hard-boiled classics, sensational gossip rags, and the corny PG-13-rated vintage sleaze. Titles such as: Sexplosion, The Finger Man, Kiss Me Deadly, Kiss My Fist, Flesh Hammer, Dykes on Bikes, Sex Fury, and so on. The high brow fiction section is small. Hop on the 38 bus to Green Apple Books for your Toni Morrisons and F. Scott Fitzgeralds and your boring squareness. Keep in mind: Kayo Books is only open Thursday, Friday, and Saturday until 6pm. read more

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"Is that a paperback book in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?" Honestly, this is the image and verbage in the Yelp photos of Kayo that got me to walk the extra 5 blocks to check this place out during my last visit to SF. I figured if that was the promo for this store, they would definitely have some smutty stuff up my alley. And sho nuff, they deeeed. I was able to score quite a few vintage paperbacks to add to the ever growing stack I was pooling together for the boy and all were fairly priced and in great condition. Definitely a store to hit if you are looking for some tasty weathered bookage! read more

Be sure to support your local brick and mortar book shops. Maria and Ron provide unmatched customer service. Be certain to check their web site for opening hours. Their unique selection of rare and collectible paperbacks will have you browsing for hours. Where else can you find "Marijuana Girl" by N. R. DeMexico - "She traded her body for drugs - and kicks" or "The Needle" by Sloane M. Britain - "Man or woman, sister or brother: her lust knew no bounds!" My personal favorite is "Shopping Center Sex" by Oren A. Lang - "A novel that cuts to the corrupt heart of suburbia's most shocking scandal!" You better hurry up before I buy all the good stuff. read more

You could totally go to Kayo Books to buy a book wherein a woman shoots a man and then if a woman just COINCIDENTALLY shot you, it would be like: Sgt. Lou Buddz: Well Farraday, you get anything from the crime scene? Det. Farraday: The poor sucker who got killed did have a book on him. But it's still a Stone Whodunnit. (Farraday holds up an old paperback book with a lurid cover in which a pretty lady in dramatic eye make-up has a poor sucker set up Hook, Line and Sinker) [[SF/X- Harlem Nocturne by The Viscounts]] You buy gritty old paperbacks and magazines here. Many pulp treasures. Much of it exploitive and salacious!!! The place is clean and well-organized. Why is it every time I'm in a cool place like this where I can easily find things that I want, I must always race with The Devil for the bathroom? Also, old paper smells GOOD! read more

Kayo was my mom's nickname in college. The vibrant cheerful sign caught my eye, piqued my interest and launched me into nostalgia before I even entered the door. This is not your mothers bookstore. The largest collection of pulp paperbacks and art I've ever seen, several floors of hand picked collectibles. Pulp fictions (the books not the film) were published from the late 1800's into the 50's, the cover art has a very distinctive look, and the titles and captions are often hilarious. The place has that strong intoxicating smell of decomposing ink on wood pulp so widely identifiable it's worthy of a Little Tree Air Freshener. The store is clean, orderly, quiet and well lit. A pleasant afternoon can be spent perusing and chatting with the friendly knowledgeable staff who can steer you towards some amusing gems. They even have a section organized by first names found in the title. I bought one containing my friends name with a particularly epic pulp cover and shadowbox framed it for her birthday... it looked pretty sweet. read more

A friend who has lived a block away from this store told me about Kayo a decade ago and I've been pillaging their pulp sci-fi stock (in bulk) once or twice a year ever since. They have always had a broad representation of authors, with plenty of the Asimov, Clarke Heinlein-grade "grand masters" as well as major pulp-era titles/authors like Murray Leinster, Lester Del Rey, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Poul Anderson, H. Rider Haggard, EE "Doc" Smith, etc., that established the genre before Star Wars helped bring science fiction into the mainstream. This is not a place I would come for the latest vampire books or Star Wars/Star Trek junk novels even though they're what I would consider the modern incarnation of "pulp" publishing. It's not that kind of place. It's better because most of the stock is rarer and older, without being expensive. I get the feeling that the non-science fiction titles are the same way, but YMMV. The staff is extraordinarily cool and courteous. Their open days/hours are limited, but with the onslaught of internet book search sites, I'm UNBELIEVABLY GRATEFUL they remain as a "brick and mortar" business. I can go spend $40 there ($2 or $3 per title) in one chunk and never have a bullshit $4 shipping charge for a "media mail" 14-day delivery time that cost the sender $0.75. I honestly don't know what I'd do without them, so go visit and buy stuff from them so I can keep doing the same! read more

When I'm hunting for particular out of print, obscure books, I get a buzz when I find one---an endorphin rush, or something like that. My heartbeat increases and I can feel my face growing warmer and my head growing somewhat lighter. I don't know for sure, but I'd be willing to bet this is the case for many collectors (not that I'm a collector---I'm just a weirdo). Wait, many collectors ARE weirdos! Does that make me a collector? No. I had a list of more than a dozen books, and had planned a little bookstore tour of town a couple weeks ago. I expected the tour to yield a couple paperbacks, but I'd never been to Kayo before, and it was first on my list. Once I figured out the sci fi section was upstairs, I discovered they had all but one of the titles I was after. Not getting greedy, and because I wanted an excuse to come back, I grabbed three and returned downstairs with what I was told was a stoned, happy look on my face. It's my new favorite bookstore in SF, with Borderlands a close second. Both are special, but Kayo has a certain "x factor." This is a place to find truly arcane materials, all magazines and paperbacks. Lots of places have sci fi, mystery, and hard boiled crime books, and Kayo is no slouch in any of those departments, but I was most impressed by their selection of old smut novels. It's a cornucopia of smut, organized into discrete sections like prostitution, catholic guilt, sex on the moon, etc. I wouldn't even know where to begin reading in this area, so if you have any suggestions, let me know. I'm thinking along the lines of "deranged and kinky," if that helps... This place is only open from Thurs. through Sat. which to me only adds to the exclusivity and coolness of Kayo Books. Yes, I'm mythologizing a bit, but screw it. This is a rare and wonderful store. read more

When I was fairly certain I was going to be moving to San Francisco, I would wile away my office days in dreary Maitland, FL researching all the great new big city things I'd be able to do when I stumbled on Kayo's website. A vintage book store concentrating on all things weird, hard boiled and seedy. It was love, immediate and crushing. Unfortunately, we were not able to immediately consumate our love upon my SF debut due to Kayo's fairly restrictive hours and distance from my usual SF stomping ground. But I still thought of Kayo- fondly and often. FINALLY, I managed to wander over to Post street on a whim this past weekend. Giddy with anticipation, I entered and slowly paced around in awe. Frankly, it was almost too much. Even better than I had imagined! I have no idea how much time I spent inside the space, which was happily bright and tidy compared to most used book stores. I left with a book on cults, a dirty book titled "Sex Cult," a MAD magazine from 1970 parodying "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice," a true crime type magazine from 1947, and a solemn vow to return. Truly a place worthy of my twisted heart. read more

Me: Lonely white male who needs companionship in the odd hours along with special times in the bathroom after Taco Truck Tuesday. You: Purveyor of paperback delights who is a great place to find older books about mystery and westerns that make my heart go pitter patter. We can only meet discretely a few days a week, but that is okay. Knowing I can't see you whenever I want only heightens the experience when we can finally get away together on a Friday afternoon. I love to browse your shelves and find classics or authors I have never heard of. Your pulp section is unrivaled and some weeknights I wish we could be together. But it is okay. I understand you. You wish to be mysterious and I love you for it. read more

I don't even WANNA know what was on the fingers of the people who flipped through the pages of these books decades ago. Kayo Books is dedicated to paperbacks. Specifically, pulp fiction. Like detective novels, smut, and mysteries. Oh, and pulp magazines, vintage erotica, original illustration artwork, photographs, comics and comix. Even if you have never read such books before you would probably be familiar with them as their front covers have become immortalized in pop culture with calendars, postcards and actual posters dedicated to their visual allure (many of these books were not to be read for plot lines so don't expect some masterpiece writing in some of them). When you walk in you are greeted by a very sweet black lab who wants kisses. You can step down into an adjoining room with more shelves of paperbacks. You can find old magazines too. There is also an upstairs area with more materials. The building that houses Kayo Books is old with lots of charm. The prices on the vintage paperbacks run from $5-$8 which is what a new paperback would cost with less charm. I ended up picking up a stack of books that included Rex Stout's stuff. But what I really want to do is come back here on my next visit to SF and spend hours. No lie. I can't imagine the gem of stuff I would find. I freaking LOVE this place. Thank you Kayo Books for existing. read more

So much fun to browse for hours among the old comics, 50's Sci-Fi, and vintage books. I love this bookstore. I have found many cheap Ursula K. LeGuin paperback books here. Its like a candy store for your brain. read more

Talk about "pulp fiction" -- Quentin Tarantino's skull would go supernova in here. This bookshop caters solely to an audience that demands its printed material to be hard-boiled and pulpy to the maximum. Dimestore detective novels from the '40s, cheesecake pinups from the '50s, psychedelic drug mags from the '60s, sleazy nude rags from the '70s...they're all here, and they're all treated with the obsessive, loving care that only the truly warped could appreciate. If you're looking for a paperback novel that features incestuous lesbian prostitutes seducing cynical P.I.'s and turning the uptown swells into downtown sluts with heroin, booze, and promises never meant to be kept...well, Kayo is the place for you! OK, OK, OK. I confess. Kayo Books is really the place for ME. I'm the one who digs kinky sex, cynical detectives, cheap liquor, and underground smut. I admit it. Are you happy now?!? Sheesh! read more

Best bookstore in the city. I could spend hours here. Its the existence of places like this that show that SF hasn't entirely lost it's soul... YET. They specialize in paperback pulp but have a ton of other great old stuff too like comics and magazines and interesting hardbounds. read more

Amazing. AMAZING. This is one of my favorite places on earth. To me, there's nothing better than the smell of old books - ESPECIALLY when they are 1940s-70s books full of true crime, smut, pop culture and pulp fiction. I would spend hours upon hours in here when I lived in the neighborhood. And, the prices are pretty cheap! Most books are just a few bucks. Anyone interested in the sleaze/hardboiled/depraved/pulp genre of reading needs to stop in. One of the best things about San Francisco EVER. read more

Shatangi used to live right by Kayo. They have a ridonculous selection of books that bring back memories and spark the imagination. Old classics to pulp wonders. Enjoy!! Shatangi told you... read more

Breathe deep the smell of old paper. Revel in the time when magazines published long, interesting fiction. Enjoy the friendly staff, and perhaps you'll get to meet the house dog. Kayo Books is clean, well-organized, and a damn treasure. Whenever I come to town it is a must-stop, but its hours are very limited so call ahead. Just one more reason to be jealous of the bastards who call San Francisco home. read more

This bookstore has one of the best collections in the city. It offers seedy literature that makes me horny. My only problem with the book store is I always end up browsing the crime isle and I never feel morally ok buying books from that isle... that is why I always bring a bag. Please put a donation box near your entrance. It is not about the money... it is just about me maintaining an inner life without contradictions.. I will happily donate regularly, once it is offered. Besos. read more

I've always found interesting books here. The last time I visited, I was trying to find a mid-50s paperback original by Robert Arthur (who created the kid's detective team The Three Investigators), and I unbelievably found it after some hunting. Supercool. Also, I always feel that the proprietor is afraid I'm going to shoplift. I'm not that skeevy, honest. read more

I agree with a prior reviewer. The store no longer has regular hours and it's a fraction of it's original size with most of it partitioned off by curtains. It never had that great of a selection to begin with, though it did have a nice selection of vintage gay magazines. The vintage paperback I purchased with it's highly acidic paper quickly disintegrated upon reading and I certainly didn't buy it for it's banal cover! read more

I once came in here and bought a Disney comic book from 1934 and a vintage magazine called "Teenage Nudists". The website has an interview where John Waters tells Terry Gross he does his holiday shopping here. -1/10th of a star for only being open Thru-Sat read more

Just an amazing bookstore. A great selection of mysteries, pulp and science fiction that I browse through and always find interesting stuff. Because of the hours the store is open I usually go at lunch time but ten it turns into a long lunch because I stay too long to browse. The main room has mysteries, pulp, old porn novels, graphic novels and media tie in works. There's a side room with more old porn novels in various catagories, non-fiction and non genre fiction. Upstairs has a wall of science fiction, more mysteries, westerns and more non-fiction. At first I wasn't that thrilled with the science fiction selection but came to realize it's not the place to go if you're looking for the newer stuff used. You won't find that here, go to Borderlands for that. The sci-fi books here are 20 years old and older. It's find to get interested in an older author, come here, and realize there's a stash of books by that author you hadn't noticed before. My only problem with the store is it's open only 3 days a week, 11 to 6 so I can't get to it as often as I would like but the owners run the store as a hobby so I can't get down on them for that. read more

Wish there were six stars. Kayo Books would get them. A true San Francisco treasure. I really need to get there more often, though. As of now, I only make it there when I start missing my friends Bond, Marlowe, Spade, or McGee. The problem is that I only venture out of my Daly City diggs and downtown to hit the library, and when that happens I always have too many library books to make the trek up there. I need to get my shit together. Beautiful Beatrice is a lucky one. read more

This has got to be the COOLEST bookstore on the West Coast. If you like genre fiction you're in Heaven. Hard-boiled fiction, super-rare reprints and originals, vintage mags like Weird Tales and Mad, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Westerns, and even tripped-out smut. From the hard-to-find to the just plain bizarre -- it's all here! Two floors worth! Thank goodness San Fran can boast of at least one truly wild and unique bookstore! Forget about boring Borders and Barnes and Noble. Go to Kayo and be blown away... Hey, I'm a writer so I know what I'm talkin' about! :) Now excuse me as I go back to reading my David Goodis and vintage Mad mag. Rad! PS -- They also happened to be located next to a very cool coffee shop that has a bar counter and pool table. Will have to review that next! read more

A shop for vintage paperbacks from the 1940s through the '70s. The stock includes hard-boiled mysteries and dime-store novels with plots involving juvenile delinquents, naughty nurses, nubile school girls, and hookers with hearts that have tarnished with time. There's a fair share of bizarre nonfiction as well. The fact that John Waters, the creative force behind some of the sleaziest films that never came out of Hollywood, is a regular browser/buyer here is a review unto itself. read more

great place to find the really unusual and esoteric. I've traveled the world and have never found anything like it. Came in to browse and wound up dropping a hefty sum on an antique bondage painting done in 1930 that has to be seen to be believed. Saw it in a corner and was hooked. It's really weird and one of my friends who saw it said it kind of bothered him. Perfect!!! Exactly the kind of reaction I was hoping for. So I moved it to another wall in the house where it's even more visible to people coming in! It was a great find as I love collecting the esoteric. Highly recommended for anybody who wants something cool and who gets tired of the generic retail stores in Union Square. It's only a 10-minute walk up Post st. from downtown San Francisco. read more

Wow. An impressive collection of pulp paperbacks, comic books and obscure porn. There has to be somebody on your Christmas list, that uncle who's a little bit off?, who would love something from this place? read more

There are no words to express how much I adore this freaky nerd-o book store. You will find the coolest shit in here. I want to live inside Kayo and never come out. read more

Cool pulp bookstore. They have some creepy ass shit here.

Have been coming to this little gem for years, back when it was only the side room and the upstairs. Needless to say, if you've received a book from me as a gift, there's a 90% chance it was purchased here. Great naughty no-no and drool-culture depository from our wonderful, messed-up last century. "Nude Ranch Nymphs", Richard Allen, Zap Comix... and of course, the PKD shelf. Fifteen minutes to uncover something wicked, two hours to discover something wicked about YOURSELF. Highest recommendation. read more

I found some vintage soap opera magazines here. Yay! Also, the last time I was there, I saw some muscle magazine from the 1960's...what a treasure! read more

I am sure it was a good bookstore to visit in previous years but, that is no longer true. Don't bother wasting your time making an appointment to see the store. All you get to peruse are the few books in the lobby near the front door and cash register. You do not get to look at the whole store. There was very little to look at. It was not worth walking up all those hills in San Francisco to go to this store. The owner was cold and unfriendly. A terrible visit on our mostly great vacation. When we asked about certain books she told us to look online. Really? read more

Kayo is the most bizarre and unique bookstore I have ever chanced upon. Do not miss this. read more

Kayo Books is my favorite bookstore in the whole city. Ron Blum is an incredible resource to have in this town. Excellent selection of vintage paperbacks (as well as some hardcovers, magazines and comic books). Stock is in very good shape and reasonably priced. read more

We've been shopping at Kayo for something like 15 years. Today we drove 2 hours to San Francisco with the specific intent of going to this bookstore. After the long trip my girlfriend had to use the restroom so when we arrived she went straight to Kayo's bathroom and began to enter. This had never been a problem in the past but on this occasion the proprietor apparently decided he wanted to make an example of her and began to cut her to shreds, berating her in front of customers for having the tenacity to enter the bathroom of his store. What's more he described the event to someone whom he was speaking over the phone, (the wife I presume?) refusing to believe that a person would have the gall to attempt entry to their restroom. This had never been a problem in the past. There is no "Do Not Enter", or "Employees Only" sign on the door designed to thwart undesired occupants of this sacred room. None-the-less, my girlfriend was made to feel insulted, disrespected and embarrassed for the offense. My problem with the owner of Kayo is not that he does not allow customers to use their bathroom, it's the disrespect and apparent contempt that he has for his customers. Bookstores are becoming more and more rare with the advent of the Internet; abe.com, ebay.com, etc. And it's only going to get worse. Service is as important to me as content and at Kayo, service is the last thing on their mind. Back to the internet, I guess. read more

I have so far only seen this place from the outside, and looked at their website, and already I am wetter than a hosed hen in a barnyard!!

Its great to see bokstores of this type and caliber. Anyone who can appreciate a book store should find themselves here with a fresh cup of coffee and some free time to sift. The cover art on some of books are classic and beautiful and the content inside can really get your mind, and body, running. Hopefully this niche can survive the online slaughter of our stores. read more

WOW! Great PULP at a reasonable price! Call me lowbrow if you must, I just prefer a 180 page book with some action, a taut story and psychological underpinnings to the overblown or overintellectualised crap that gets pushed as popular fiction today. My favorite part of KAYO is the first shelf on the right when you go in- HARD BOILED Crime! There you'll find paperbacks by Charles Willeford, John D. MacDonald,Jim Thampson,David Goodis, Peter Rabe etc, etc, priced below $12 each. The more expensive stuff is in a glass case to keep the drool off. If your tastes run to the exotica, to SciFi, smut or vintage movie tie-ins, you'll find something terrific here. Even famous novels by Zola, Erskine Caldwell, etc advertised as UNEXPURGATED to make you think you might have something rrRRacy! And almost always, a picture on the cover of some dame with pushed up boobies! This store is a treasure! Call first as in addition to some strange books, they keep some strange hours. read more