For over 3 decades, John Shahidi has been dispensing an eclectic mix of printed matter from his unassuming storefront in West Philadelphia.

Stocking publications of every topic and persuasion, Avril 50 is an unexpected delight to those who happen upon it, and for others it’s a regular destination to find the printed matter they can’t find elsewhere.

Announced to his followers via Avril 50’s Facebook page, Shahidi’s inventories read like strange run-on poems, their nonsensical syntaxes recalling Dadaist techniques employed to “[free] the unconscious from the domination of reason and tradition.”

The following content was posted by Avril 50 between 2014 and 2016.