Glory bound

Independent bookstore is a treasure of tattered tomes and assorted curios

“I don’t see anything intrinsically wrong with capitalism,” said Dan Riffe, who runs Bound For Glory Books with Kris Rose.

“Can I quote you on that?” 

“Yeah, as long as you give it some context,” he said. 

Context is all: Riffe has no problems with capitalism, but he didn’t open a bookstore to get rich. The books and zines, VHS and DVD movies (for rent or sale), records, magnets, jewelry, and other delightfully strange kitsch and miscellany that Riffe and Rose sell add context for Tulsa. 

Bound For Glory, in the easternmost space in a little strip off Route 66 called Vandalia Plaza, is in good company. Mammoth Comics, the neighboring comic shop, hosts Magic: The Gathering, and Good Mischief peddles vintage clothing and pseudo-witchy sundries. A dance studio occupies the second floor of the building—Rose said you can hear their classes in the afternoon sometimes. “Sounds like elephants having sex,” she said.

Curating an independent, unsubsidized bookstore is tricky business. There are certain challenges when it comes to book-buying. Rose and Riffe are always looking for inventory, but sometimes a book will sit on a shelf for months. It can be frustrating trying to predict what will sell. The Keynesian animal spirit has a strong presence here. 

Conversation with Rose and Riffe is frequently punctuated by a recommendation. When Riffe told me a story about the time he was interviewed by the Feds after the punk club Nitro was bombed by Tulsa skinheads in the 90s, he recommended Bill Buford’s “Among the Thugs,” about crowd hooliganism in British football (soccer). For context. 

What you can find: “Busted: Drug War Survival Skills, From the Buy to the Bust to Begging for Mercy” by defense attorney M. Chris Fabricant and illustrated by R. Crumb (and endorsed by Tommy Chong: “I wish I had this book before I got busted!”), dozens of Microcosm titles, including “Pedal Zombies: Thirteen Feminist Bicycle Science Fiction Stories,” and Tulsa Artist Fellow Gary Kachadourian’s life-sized prints of parking meters and air conditioners. Some of the labeled categories on the shelves include Bicycles, Philosophy, Erotica, Kabbalah, Mystery, Native American, Conspiracy Theories, and Martial Arts.

As Rose lamented State Rep. Justin Humphrey’s recently proposed abortion bill (the one that refers to pregnant women as “hosts” and requires a “male sexual partner” to give permission for the procedure), she showed me “Sister Speak,” a visually striking zine that seeks to challenge the patriarchy and the status quo. It’s exactly what I needed to read in that moment. 

“Because the Internet can be so overwhelming,” Rose said, “it’s nice to hold a physical effort... There’s something vital in that exchange.” 

Other self-published treatises by anarchists, feminists, and artists near and far, including new Tulsa zines “TYPOS: The Magazine for Interesting People” and “Normal,” have found a home at Bound For Glory. 

As I perused their selection of the Beats, I mentioned to Rose that I’d recently picked up William S. Burroughs’ 1971 novel “The Wild Boys.” At this, Rose’s husband, David Dean, an English teacher, suggested I read “Port of Saints” next, describing it as “authentically transgressive.”

The shop also hosts shows, because why not? Recently, Florida singer/songwriter David Dondero (along with comedian Evan Hughes and Grass Crack, Riffe’s bluegrass gangstabilly five-piece) performed in the back of the shop, between dozens of boxes of comics and the Erotica section. If you’ve never heard Dondero, think Lenny Bruce meets an acoustic Billy Bragg: political and clever, but still a little dreamy. He sang about the pending wall between the United States and Mexico, finding sobriety (and keeping it for 14 months and counting), and even more personal vignettes exploring place and time with songs called “South of the South” and “Rothko Chapel.”  

Where do Rose and Riffe see Bound For Glory this time next year? Expectations are modest. Rose said she hopes to host more shows and in-store events, start a zine workshop, and add context to Tulsa’s story through the shop’s eclectic stock. 

At this, Riffe countered: “The whole idea of progress is sort of disingenuous, I think.”

Bound For Glory Books
4624 E. 11th St.
Tues.-Sat.: 1 p.m. – 7 p.m. 
Sun.: 1 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Closed Mondays

For more from Kathryn, read her break-up story from our Valentine’s Day issue.