With a name like Max Sloan it was probably inevitable.
Seriously. Doesn’t ‘Max Sloan, Private Eye’ sound like a good pulp fiction character?
Instead, Max Sloan is the owner of the recently-opened Pulp Fiction Coffe Shop and Robbie Rare Books in downtown Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada.
During his 45-years in the oil business, Max traveled around the world. But he always traveled with a plan in mind. Everywhere he went, in any size city or town, he checked out the book stores and amassed a warehouse-sized collection of pulp fiction books, bookends and other amazing antiques.
When he retired, he opened up the bookstore he’d been planning for almost half a century.
Kevin & I stumbled upon this jam-packed coffee house after a chilly walk along Kelowna’s Mission Creek.
Students were working on homework, another man with his I Love Poland stickered-laptop was typing furiously. Others, like us, were temporarily gadget-free (gasp!). We perused the mysterious little back rooms filled with crazy-covered books, glowing Art-Deco globes, old clocks and colour copies of ready-to-be-framed jacket covers.
My cappuccino was stellar, but more than that, meeting Max Sloan made my day. He’s a story-teller extraordinare and, along with his CEO, Robbie (a very smart Standard Poodle) they create a cozy haven to peruse the sordid past of pulp fiction. Looking at those covers is a crazy glimpse into our view of the world in the 50s and 60s; some of those covers had my mouth hanging open. We’ve come a long way, baby…
You can order his rare books from his FB page, but better yet, take a drive to Kelowna and visit Mr. Sloan and his Commander-in-Chief, Robbie.
What a great bookstore! The sort of place I’d like to move into for the day (or three). As a kid I had a large book of the best of pulp fiction so love the genre. It’s really too bad the originals were printed on such poor quality paper. The publishers couldn’t have imagined the long-term appeal and importance of these popular stories – and their authors.
Looks like Kevin walking on the fallen leaves — awesome photo!
‘Tis indeed my husband walking in those long shadows. Glad you liked the photo. I loved playing with the camera on that trail. I’m sure you’ll be seeing more pictures from that day.
That looks like a place I could spend many hours. Thanks for that. A good reason to visit Kelowna, and bonus if the coffee is good.
Hey Mary. I could see you in there for quite awhile 🙂 Especially when you discovered the almond/chocolate Florentines.
Nevertheless, the photo out on the trail is really excellent.
Thanks Larry. It was a beautiful crisp day with enough snowy bits to make sure the leaves really crunched and smelled great.
Love the photos, but where’s the pic of the CEO?
The CEO was a bit of a moving target…and I didn’t spend enough time on the photo.
I’ve got a snapshot, but not a worthy portrait of Robbie’s commmanding presence 🙂