We received a slightly panicked phone call this morning just before opening, asking if we still had copies of Chris Ware’s Building Stories in stock. We weren’t terribly surprised; Building Stories is topping many critics’ best-comics-of-the-year lists, and more than a couple best-books-of-the-year lists too. But the actual reason was a little bit more surprising–many online retailers, not to mention the publisher themselves, are temporarily out of stock right now.

It’s tough, as an independent book store, to take a strong inventory position on a book on the pricier side… but when it’s Chris Ware, you just have to do it.

So yes, Virginia, The Beguiling does have copies of Building Stories in stock.

We’ve also got the phenomenal and very rare Multi-Story Building Portfolio, a collection of prints that can be collected as is, or cut-out and assembled to create the building featured in Building Stories.

Note to our mailorder friends: There is no way we can get this to you before Christmas, probably not until late January given our current shipping schedule, so please consider that before asking for a copy to be shipped to you. We recommend that you check comic and independent book stores in your area first.

– Chris @ The Beguiling