Elvis Shakespeare

A good little book/record shop in Leith to have a look around. It shouldn't be too difficult to something you might like in here, there is a lot in the shop. You can choose books from loads of genres, from educational/travel etc to your classics. There will be something for everyone.

All in all, a good place to pick up some cheap books.

So I've walked past here many many many times and even seen the occasional band playing on a saturday morning in the front window. I was always a bit too intimidated to go in though, theres always really musical looking people in here that look a bit too cool for school and on arrival thats what the vibe felt like inside...

You know those people that only like bands that no one has heard of because once their on the radio theyve "sold out" they dont like bands like kasabian because they are so mainstream... its just pure music snobbery and pretention they think they are so cool, but actually they are try hards with closed minds, whats amazing about music is that theres something for everyone..

Anyway surprisingly after being in here for ten minutes or so I realized this place is not at all like that which is brilliant because it means I will actually step foot back inside this place.. more books than I thought, vinyl (of course) dvds and cds... Loads of first editions which were kind of expensive although that is probably due to the fact that they are first editions! Although down the back in the art section (quite a small one but still ) they had a huge Dali book which was only £20.00 (think I'll go back for that after payday)

Great ever changing collection records and books. Make yourself a coffee and listen to some vinyl. Friendly, welcoming staff too.

What a dump..Owner (David Griffin) was extreamly Rude ...when i walked in he was swearing at someone on the phone and did not seem to care who was in the store (would not recomend going there with children) I asked for assistance in locating a item , to which he replied 'Im busy , im quite sure you can find it yourself' Unbelievable , i had heard such good things about the store VERY DISAPOINTING..*AVOID THIS STORE** Owner has a huge temper and attitude problem

This place is wonderful, all 7”s and 12”s are arranged beautifully and I felt like a kid in a sweet shop when I visited a few times, picked up a couple of those rare Wedding Present “Hit Parade” 7”s on my last visit. I highly recommend it.

Elvis Shakespeare has a great name. Full stop. The juxtaposition of the two fully encapsulates this gem of a bookstore on Leith walk. As befits the UNESCO city of Literature, Edinburgh is awash in bookstores, in a number of different settings, corporate, charity shops, and in this case, independent. One afternoon, last week, I strolled in for the first time and perused the literature while my music geek husband checked out the tunes. The literature is well picked- and again- completely epitomized the character of the shop name: I was checking out biographies and Rupert Everett's recent bibliographic jaunt sat beside Gertrude Stein's 'The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas'. They each sat at 3 quid a pop which is indicative of the reasonableness of the shop: a classic and a recent pop culture best-seller could fetch at least a fiver each. My husband thoroughly approved the music section- gave it two thumbs up- which was a feat as he is rarely satisfied. I digress. As I was looking at the kitsch wall of records: one featuring the Smurfs, the proprieter struck up a conversation with us- we discussed the beauty of kitsch, the prevalence of youtube and the scarcity of cheap (yet good) record players in the city. We introduced ourselves properly and he invited us to an in-store show he was holding with a singer/songwriter he highly commended. We walked away, one biography in hand, 3 quid spent feeling remarkably satisifed. This is because many nebbish record stores we have frequented have had staff that have had a seemingly holier-than-thou attitude to us mere plebs. High Fidelity- being the obvious literary example I can cite- which rings just a little bit true to us. How lovely to have a) a bookstore stocked with good books b) an independent music store selling good music c) a neighbourhood community invite to an event and d) a lovely owner who was not hesitant to be warm and inviting. Will return. Will spend what little money I have. Will be worth it.

Elvis Shakepeare is a great little shop on Leith Walk.

They sell vinyl records, cds, vhs tapes, DVDs, comics and every type of book you could imagine.

It's the type of place you could spend an hour or so just happily browsing, but you will end up buying something.

The staff are vey friendly and if you are looking for something specific, will help you try to find whatever you are looking for.