January 13, 2003
* BOOKIN' IT SECOND-HAND IN ENGLISH-SPEAKING PARIS
Last week, an avid-reader friend asked me if I knew of any book stores to bring his used English-language books for sale or for exchange of new ones to read. I have quite a bookshelf of my own...visiting friends leave their discarded novels and guide books on my shelves for the next guests, and in fact, I was forced to build more shelves to accommodate them.
Synchronically (C.G. Jung's theory of acausal meaningful coincidences), two bookshops contacted me that same week, both of which take in used books and one of which was on the "must visit" list of friends seeing Paris for the first time. Since synchronicity of this type is a powerfully directional force for me, I set out to visit the bookshops and learn more.
The first shop that had come to mind was Tea and Tattered Pages, a cozy "salon de thé" second-hand bookshop run by a former Californian in the 6th arrondissement near the Métro Duroc where you can barter and trade over a root-beer float and brownie. Occasionally, it hosts poetry readings. In fact, the first time I heard poet Cecilia Woloch read (Director of the Paris Poetry Workshop) was in the tiny tea room of this shop overflowing with more than 10,000 books.
Jim Carroll, part owner of the San Francisco Book Company, also in the "literary" 6th on rue Monsieur le Prince (my favorite street for bargain sushi), is moving to Paris this Spring from his San Francisco home to possibly expand the little shop which just celebrated it's 5th year in Paris. White bearded Dick Tony, presiding at the front desk, explained that used books are the driving force of their business. You might enter with the idea to sell, but when you see the large selection, you may be more tempted to trade.
I was delighted when young and beautiful Sylvia Beach Whitman who recently returned to Paris from her studies in London, invited me for a coffee near the infamous Shakespeare and Company Bookstore. Sylvia, who's namesake, Sylvia Beach, founded the original Shakespeare and Company, is the daughter of George Whitman, who in 1951 purchased an old Arab grocery store on rue de la Bûcherie in the 5th and transformed the space into the Librairie Mistral. In honor of Sylvia Beach, it was renamed Shakespeare and Company in 1964.
Playing an important role in successive waves of expatriate writers, the store still thrives today, acting as a major meeting place for writers in the current community. Taking in used books is very much a part of their goal to support the literary world, however, they ask that you bring in only the classics they know they can sell well, as there is simply not a shred of shelf space left!
Poetry readings have been ongoing over the years, on chairs in front of the shop or in the miniscule "library" on an upper level. Sylvia plans to expand their support of the literary community. She is currently organizing a Literary Festival in June of this year (2003) intended to bring together writers from three important periods: the Lost Generation, the Beat Generation and the New Generation. (We'll tell you more about this further down in this newsletter, so be sure to scroll down.)
Lastly, Brian Spence's The Abbey Bookshop, on "petite" rue de la Parcheminerie not far away in the 5th, is a source for Canadian books and literature as well as English-language books from around the world. It sells new, secondhand and rare books of Canadian Anglophone and Francophone literature, Anglo-American literature and Canadian newspapers. Reading and lectures are held here regularly, again outside on the sidewalk (in good weather, of course).
All four shops are within walking distance of one another, so gather up your best "have-read-and-enjoyed" tomes, load them into your marketing caddy so you don't break your back, and visit each one of them for a guaranteed afternoon of literary pleasure.
A la prochaine fois...
Tea and Tattered Pages, 24, rue Mayet, 75006 Paris, Métro Duroc, 01.40.65.94.35, tandtp@hotmail.com
San Francisco Book Company, 17, rue Monsieur le Prince, 75006 Paris, Métro Odéon, 01.43.29.15.70, sfbooks@easynet.fr
Shakespeare and Company, 37, rue de la Bûcherie, 75005 Paris, Métro Saint-Michel, 01.43.26.96.50
The Abbey Bookshop, 29, rue de la Parcheminerie, 75005 Paris, Métro Saint-Michel and Cluny-La Sorbonne, 01.46.33.16.24, ABparis@compuserve.com, http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/abparis/
"There is more real Shakespeare in Paris right now than there has been in Stratford-on-Avon in one hundred years." -- Sylvia Beach
George Whitman's Shakespeare and Company, nicknamed "The Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart," has hosted an estimated 30,000 travelers, writers, poets and students throughout the 50 impressive years of its existence. Following Sylvia's model, the current Shakespeare and Company has encouraged generations of writers and George's name-echoing friends have included Henry Miller, Anaïs Nin, Bertolt Brecht, Arthur Miller, Louis Aragon, Graham Greene, Philippe Sollers, the Beat poets, William Styron, Ray Badbury, as well as numerous others. The literary groups surrounding Tel Quel and Change also met inside the store-walls. Pushing 90, the elusive George Whitman is still wandering through the book-built corners of his home, running without telephone or computer, what he recently called "a den of poets and anarchists disguised as a bookshop."
More than a bookshop, the store is also a squat, a library, a welcome center - an anchor to the writer's dream. George offers free beds upstairs to those willing to write something before they leave and help out repairing shelves, stocking new books, serving tea, or running the cashiers desk. Every Sunday at 4:00 p.m. there is a tea upstairs which is worth checking into when you first arrive, as well as frequent poetry readings that are announced in the shop windows. (Note by Lee Lady: See the book by Jeremy Mercer, Time Was Soft There for a first hand acccount of what it was like to live at Shakespeare and Company.)
Recent news in Shakespeare and Company's history include the arrival of Sylvia Whitman, George's daughter who has returned to Paris--ready to keep the store alive--from her History studies in London. Sylvia is currently organizing an exciting Literary Festival intended to bring together writers from three important periods: the Lost Generation, the Beat Generation and the New Generation.
In Sylvia's words, "The Festival will take place from Monday, June 9th, 2003 and end on Monday, June 16th (Bloom's Day). The first two days will focus on the Lost Generation and will include readers such as Noel Riley Fitch and Michael Hastings. The next two days will consist of readings, music and theatrical events on the Beat Generation. Readers include L Ferlinghetti, Joyce Johnson (Kerouac's lover during the publication of On the Road) and Danny Karlin (professor from the University College of London). The final days will be full of readings on various subjects, such as poetry read by C.K.Williams, a reading of 'Wild Swans' by author Jung Chang and a literary walk by Thirza Vallois, to name a few."
Both Sylvia's arrival and Shakespeare and Company's upcoming Literary Festival come as uplifting news for Paris' next generation of writers. Will keep you posted...
Shakespeare and Company, 37, rue de la Bûcherie, just across from Nôtre Dame, Métro Sant-Michel, Tel: 01.43.26.96.50 Open from noon until midnight everyday.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The above is an excerpt from the newly updated WRITER'S INSIDER GUIDE TO PARIS (http://www.insiderparisguides.com/writers/index.html) by Elizabeth Reichert. Ms. Reichert will also be speaking about Literary Paris in the upcoming PARIS POETRY WORKSHOP (http://www.parlerparis.com/poetry) and the ULTIMATE TRAVEL WRITERS WORKSHOP (http://www.parlerparis.com/travelwriters) and gives guided walking tours of Literary Paris (http://www.parlerparis.com/guidedtours/amelie-literary.html)
If you're fed up with your 9 to 5 regime, a writer needing a new perspective, or simply intoxicated with the myth of writing in Paris...
...then welcome.
The Writer's Insider Guide to Paris is your introduction to the writer's life in Hemingway's "great treasure", Paris. Published specifically with the expatriate writer in mind, this guide is all you'll need to meet other writers, make publishing contacts, and be inspired in Paris.
(January, 2003. Lightly revised subsequently.)
Copyright 2003, Agora Ireland Publishing & Services Ltd.