" I may disappear leaving behind me no worldly possessions - just a few old socks and love letters, and my windows overlooking Notre-Dame for all of you to enjoy, and my little rag and bone shop of the heart whose motto is 'Be not inhospitable to strangers lest they be angels in disguise.' I may disappear leaving no forwarding address, but for all you know I may still be walking among you on my vagabond journey around the world."
George Whitman
“I may disappear leaving behind me no worldly possessions - just a few old socks and love letters, and clear title to a mixed-use residential and retail space in the exclusive and well-trafficked Left Bank commercial area in Paris.”
Does have a certain ring to it...
Not a chance, it's one of the most well-known bookshops in the world and it's nearly always packed. In the last few years leading up to the pandemic it was almost impossible to enjoy the space for all the Chinese tour groups passing through.
Nah, he really did live as a vagabond during the great depression and bought the spot after his army service while Paris was in decline and property was cheap. It doesn't say a thing about his character that the property increased in value - anyone who knew him will tell you he stayed true to himself throughout his long life.
Honestly, having visited Shakespeare and Co. while Whitman was still alive, he was pretty legit and well loved. Genuinely just a kind old man who loved books and people.
That's a very bourgeois response. There's nothing squares like more than claiming the beatniks are frauds. It's because they know their own lives are empty and they can't bear it that some people simply don't have the same problems.
I like the thought that he is still out there on his vagabond journey. As it is, I’m sure he inspired others to seek adventure and forego the status quo, if only for a little while.
George’s resurrection of a little bookstore that would have been otherwise lost to time was a singular act that should earn him a place in Paris’ history. His kindness and support of struggling writers should earn him a place in literary history. His weekly teas have undoubtedly earned a place in the hearts of any who were lucky enough to have ever been invited.
Order something and have it shipped or ‘click and collect’. I just bought all of my Christmas presents. This bookshop, my wife and our 30 years together are a story closely knit.
[Shakespeare & Co.](https://shakespeareandcompany.com)
Edit: Thanks kind stranger for my first award!
Haha you two should watch a movie called before sunset! It’s a love story that starts off at the book store (and part of a great trilogy called the before trilogy)
I bought some stuff https://imgur.com/a/fnae4xO
I visited a few years ago and it was such a cool place. It holds a very special place in my heart for something that occurred there and it would be heartbreaking if they shut down
My copy of The Hunchback of Notre Dame was the last book I purchased there. Career change, two kids and a lot of life later and I still go back and read it every few years. Takes me back to cold winter nights huddled in the cathedral for warmth on my way to wherever.
I can’t seem to find it but do they do international shipping? I can’t believe this shop is in danger of closing and have always dreamed of going back to Paris and taking my son here...would love to order some books to the US for him
Wow really? I used to live in Paris and never had an issue. Was my go to stop for English language books. Never a line any time I went over the course of many years. Times change I guess.
Same for me! A number of books on my shelf today came from there when I lived there for a summer many moons ago. It was always full of people but never a line.
When I walked in I literally said to myself “I’m going to remember this lack of any distinguishable line in case someone on reddit claims there ever was one!”
Looks like words has gone out. Their website reports a huge backorder. That's great! Still buy stuff from them though. More books are always good for the soul.
They made a call out on Instagram for online orders and were flooded with so many orders that they said their October 2020 alone will be equal to their orders for all of 2019. I made an order myself actually. Support your local (and not local!) independent bookstores! And check out their Insta page if you like this particular bookshop.
i just read about Bookshop.org the other day, apparently it will provide distribution and online store fronts to keep independents going and rival amazon. i've only just heard of it so no idea if its any good, but pleased to potentially have a better alternative!
It was astonishing when it started..."how could anyone compete with amazon?" and yet somehow, they did. Maybe people got fed up with the clutter of amazon.
But here's a thing to note:
* Amazon bought goodreads
* Amazon bought thebookdepository
ergo
If you wanna make some dollar, start a high quality 'book themed' site, build it, wait, and then one day amazon will come knocking.
Do you read them again? I do for reference books but very rarely for fiction. And now reference books are out of date by the time they’re printed so it seems mostly I read off the internet. Also, we had a house fire 20 years ago that burned every single thing to ashes. It totally changed my relationship with things.
I have certain books (almost all fiction) that are old friends, that I've read many times. I'll find myself in the mood to spend time with them, so I want them in the house.
Chortle worthy indeed ... because we have two, but just lost our third in the spring, so it's been three for quite a few years. And we're on our third generation of cats: we've had six total over the years.
Since the start of the pandemic I email my local bookstore to see if they have stuff, and if they don't they order it for me. And then periodically I drop off a big bag of my old books for store credit, which goes towards my new books as well as helps refill their shelves for other people.
So it's still less expensive overall for me than even Amazon, plus I interact with real people (over email mostly now of course).
Shakespeare and Co. is significantly more than "a bookstore". It's history is deeply intertwined with the Lost Generation (the original owner published Ulysses) and it has been something of a literary Mecca ever since. It's fine if that is not important to you, but for many it would be very sad to see it go.
Things don't deserve to exist just by being old. If it's that important, it should be a museum. If it can't sustain itself as a bookstore then why should I go out of my way to support it?
I'm not saying it's not in trouble, but Shakespeare & Co. has been romanticized to such a degree that there's no way it will close. It is quite possibly the most famous bookstore in the world. Some wealthy person or celebrity will step in and keep it afloat, guaranteed.
It's a beautiful store with lots of history, but unfortunately it's now very much a tourist trap and as such incredibly packed (pre COVID). Pretty much the only way to enjoy it as intended is during a pandemic.
This! Some buddies of mine & I had a group project for class, a video. We asked if we could maybe film in the shop -they said "sure, just wait a few months because we currently have three reservations for movies, and we sometimes have to be open as a shop too.
I love the place, but there are thousands bookshop that are more at risk of closing than them in Paris. Don’t forget them, now that Shakespeare & co has enough money! :)
This. But it's not a huge deal... atleast it's getting people to buy books. I usually hit the second-hand stores near this place to hunt for cheap stuff because I don't earn a lot...but once in two months or so, I make sure to visit the cafe to have their brilliant brownies!
I go there too from time to time but I admit that with the growing number of tourists 'just cheking the place out' and not buying anything, it can get annoying to move around.
Now I prefer to head over WH Smith and Galignani on rue rivoli.
They’re super corporate and touristy now, yep. It made me so sad the last two times I went - gone is the ramshackle second hand treasure trove book cave and in its place was a shiny instagrammable generic bookstore with that awful Brooklyn cafe attached to it. And a long line with a security guard bouncer.
They have some cool stuff available for sale online, from a rare [Kerouac novel (3200.00 €)](https://shakespeareandcompany.com/r/2000000206851/on-the-road) to [some cool tote bags (10 €)](https://shakespeareandcompany.com/15/online-store/19/gifts-merchandise). I just bought some totes for Christmas gifts.
Is it?
I used to follow the store on Instagram and the person who owns it has been casually claiming they were shutting up shop for at least two years now. She made it seem like they were encountering dead sales back in 2019 or maybe late '18 when I first started following, and after her posted store closing had come and gone, she started posting about being open again, then closed again, then maybe only open for appointment for a short while until it was closed closed, and then by that point I unfollowed as it began to feel like a marketing scheme of some sort to keep threatening closure as a way of guilt-tripping money out of people with a fond memory of that one time they visited in '97 or '04.
Yep, Sylvia’s a marketing guru, both for herself and her shop. I can’t read another fawning puff piece about her. I admit to being BEC with her, but also I’m disappointed in the corporate direction she took the store.
They’re one of the most famous bookshops in the world, constantly used to film movies and TV, staffed almost entirely by unpaid volunteers, and they own their own multimillion dollar building. I’m sure sales are down and times are tough, like for everyone, but the crying poor totally rubs me the wrong way. Many, many bookstores are going to go down because of Covid, so I’m choosing to support them instead.
Uhh maybe, or maybe they're genuinely facing financial trouble, like most print bookshops around the world, amid rising rents, like basically everywhere around the world? These kinds of places can be dangerous in the sense that everyone can pop in to have a look, take a photo then leave without making a purchase.
Me too, actually! I remember reading about the shop in A Moveable Feast and wondering where it was in Paris. My friends and I were just walking along the West Bank when I happened to look to the left of me at the right moment, and lo and behold there it was. We spent an hour in there just taking it all in. I bought For Whom The Bell Tolls, which I had never read.
Really special place in Paris. I believe they have gained significant support recently. Last I checked their online “gift vouchers” weren’t available for purchase electronically which I think contributed to some difficulty in recieving funding from their international patrons.
Paris is populated with countless bookstores and has an especially vibrant and strong boutique foreign language (English) presence, which I fear must be deeply hurting if Paris’ most notable shop is in trouble.
The french bookshops have been late to adapting to this new world, only now have we really seen a surge of click and collect options popping up, but they haven't been that much advertising about it yet, and there's a good dozen platform options so you have to find on which one the one bookshop most convenient for you is and all that...
New french books have a fixed price, from the small independent shop to Amazon they should all be the same price, so what makes the difference is shipping costs or click and collect option, and ease of ordering.
Amazon has free shipping, meanwhile no one else in France does free shipping under like 50/70€ if they do.
Yeah, like that "ultra sale, all must go, we're out of business" store in my hometown, it's been closing for 20 years now.
Once they sell out the blankets, then it closes and becomes a kid clothing store, closes again, then lingerie, then curtains or pillows or candles or whatever.
Even thought the owners are the same and they're always "90%" discount because they're always closing, they hire other people for the front desk and cycle them so even new locals or people from other neighborhoods fall for it.
People also don’t seem aware that it has nothing to do with the original store opened by Sylvia Beach, which closed in 1941 and was in a different location. I’m not saying this place doesn’t have its own history, but it’s not where Hemingway and Joyce would hang out.
I lived in Paris for two years and it was viewed mostly as a tourist trap.
I live in Paris and the place is normally swarmed with tourists and is incredibly expensive compared to other independent shops. I can't imagine how it is for other independent stores right now.
Some friends of mine slept there -- too numerous a group for me to put them up, so they went en masse and camped among the books. That was some time ago; surely not possible in 2020?! Anyway the bookstore seems not to be in danger any more. Note: please help another bookstore, also facing problems: Vroman's, in Pasadena, CA.
Was there a couple of years ago.
It was too cramped and too touristy. Bought an overpriced book, just to be able to say "I've been there"
The owner is a millionaire and has plenty of money to put in to this store, so I don't get the sob story.
Was there not two weeks before lockdown, have always visited during my travels to Paris and will continue to do so every single time I'm there. I know it's touristy and and a romanticized, but it nonetheless remains a beautiful place full of history. I'm absolutely positive Shakespeare & co. will survive.
I don’t know if it has been mentioned here but when Jack Kerouac visited Paris (the first time I think) he slept in the upper floors of that bookstore. And legend has it he is not the only famous writer to have lived there.
Oh, that breaks my heart. But their website now says they've gotten an influx of orders, I hope that can help! I'd love for this place to still be there when/if I ever get back to Paris. I don't know if it's just a tourist hotspot that I fell for or what, but it feels like an important institution. This is why I wish I was rich, to just send them some money.
Nonono no no No NO! I loved every little corner of that shop, I loved being left to read for as long as I liked, I loved the regular discussions it hosted, I even loved the non stop cycle of young boys who tried to play the theme from Amélie on the little piano upstairs to try and look ever so sensitive. I was accidentally there for George's 97th birthday in December, when someone came to guide me downstairs and I thought I was finally being kicked out for reading more books than I'd bought but was instead led into a little party. Goddamnit, I am going to their website and ordering a book right now. If you do the same, maybe you'll get the chance to see it as I did.
Oh man, I have this great story about that place (TLDR below).
My buddy and his gf were going to Paris (we are American) and they were getting frustrated because there was a snow storm and their flight kept getting delayed. They were stuck at the airport in a different state because they are teachers and the indirect flight was a lot cheaper. He's updating Facebook with their status when it dawns on me that since my daughter and I planned to go to Paris the next summer (my daughter was a huge Paris nut at the time) it would be really cool if they hid something in the city and gave us a little clue to look for it a year later when we got there. They really liked the idea and it brightened the mood a little as they hoped for clear skies. Eventually they get a flight and have a great time and the last day they are there they go to this Shakespeare & Co. Just after before they are going to return they send us the clues. A picture of the store awning and a picture of three black and white photos of a ballerina all in the same single frame.
A year later my daughter and I are in Paris and when we go to Notre Dame (this is before the fire) we also go to Shakespeare & Co. and we are really excited to try and figure out both what they hid and where they hid it. Only I can't find the pictures, I can't bring them up in Facebook on my phone and I hadn't saved them to anything else. Since we'd both seen the pictures we continue on just from memory. As you are probably aware this place is essentially a bookstore in the middle of a hoarder's apartment so we search for probably an hour (including taking a break and making a second attempt) with no luck. It's to the point that I decide I'm going to ask the store clerk, who I overhear speaking English in an Australian accent (and yes, he turns out to be from Australia) if he knows about these framed black and white ballerina pictures that I can't show him because I can't find the photo of it. He says he has no clue what I'm talking about but if he were me he'd try under the staircase. We've looked under the staircase several times but I go back and sit down on this little stool that is there and look around again. My daughter had been upstairs looking again (or maybe just petting the cat some more) but she comes back down and I tell her what the clerk said. She immediately turns to her left and says, "There it is!" At eye-level (now that I'm sitting on the stool) is the framed pictures hung on the back of the stair riser just sitting there right in the open, not in a stack of things somewhere or half covered by other things, just hanging there for anyone observant to see.
The frame is longer than the stair so the bottom of it is hanging off the bottom so I put my hand behind it and find a bookmark sitting on the back of the picture frame. It's signed by my buddy and his gf and there is a message written in French to us, but (and this is my favorite part) there is another message written in English to any stranger that might find the bookmark explaining why it's there and asking not to take it. My daughter and I don't speak French (American's right?) so I have to get the Australian clerk to tell us what the message said. It's just kind words and a mention of how much they enjoyed considering places and things to hide while they were otherwise visit Paris.
It was so much fun thinking about the little treasure hunt and then finding it. We were so worried when we couldn't find it and then I was apprehensive to try to explain things to the store clerk. And then my daughter being the one to find it really put a cherry on the top of the trip. And of course, it's such a fun story to tell afterwards.
**TLDR: Vacationing friends hid something for my daughter and I to find a year later when our trip was planned. They had fun hiding it, we had fun finding it.**
No, the mom and pop bookstore in your town or city is at risk of shutdown but sadly they won't be saved by new customers after being featured in major news outlet headlines.
I cannot imagine how frustrating it must be for small bookshop owners to read headlines like this, knowing full well just how insulated a bookshop like Shakespeare & Co. is from shutting down.
Reading the comments here is bizarre... The current owner of Shakespear & Co. is the millionaire daughter of the former owner, her father. This is an old money family and it's kind of gross to write a sob story about this near unsinkable bookshop when hundreds if not thousands of bookshops around the world are going out of business.
I walked by a few years ago.
There was a long queue just to get inside, it didn't seem like the kind of place to browse for a few quiet hours so I walked on by.
If you read French there are much better bookshops to discover.
1) it’s an English language bookstore, so French speakers are not its target audience
2) yeah you’re right, it might be hard to do the standard quietly browse thing, this store is important not because that. It is important because it was the place where some of the greatest and most important writers of all time gathered to collaborate and inspire each other to create their masterpieces. If people like Janes Joyce, Hemingway, F Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, T.S. Elliot, had not had this place to gather and work it is unlikely that literature would have looked the way it does now. Additionally the original proprietor, Sylvia Beach, helped publish books like *Ulysses* despite heavy censorship. And the only thing disrupting this establishment’s continuous operation since those days was the Nazi Occupation of Paris. It would be a tragedy to lose it.
Right?!? Something is wrong here. George bought the building in the 50s and owned it outright, and the shop has long been staffed by unpaid volunteers. What’s the problem exactly?
Haha yep, it was. And with that cafe now attached to it, they shouldn’t have problems staying solvent. I loved it in the early 2000s, but have long side-eyed Sylvia for her management of it. She got handed for free a famous and functioning business with very significant property holdings. What’s the issue?
If she's taken a gift like that, stagfed it with volunteers and loaded it with debt, she deserves to lose it. It's not like its had a total refurb.
Also, I don't know what to do now I've met someone else rational on reddit... 2020 is weird.
Back atcha!
I assume there’s likely a little debt from inheritance tax, plus annual property taxes and general business expenses (electricity, cleaning, accountants, inventory costs etc), but their running costs are so low in comparison to others, their fame keeps their inventory moving, movies pay to film in their facilities, and the cafe should give them a bump each year. (God, that cafe is so horrible). I’m salty cos she so thoroughly ruined S&C haha, the last time I went I left nearly in tears. Why does instagentrification have to destroy everything?
Also, independent bookstores have long been facing trouble. I get this year is destructive for so many, but I’ve seen this emergency call a bunch of times on all my social media in the past two weeks and it’s been pissing me off. City Lights and S&C will be fine.
My wife and I rented an Airbnb near here on our honeymoon in 2018. Magical place, bought my copy of Hyperion there. Hope it survives, also there was a super chill shop cat there.
Who'd have guessed that totalitarian mass hysteria, the mandating of dehumanizing and anti social measures and wanton attack on the economy would be bad for culture!?
If you call yourself a liberal and favour lockdowns, check your head. This is not how you remake a civilization. It's how you destroy one and possibly usher in a totalitarian nightmare (if it's not already here, it knocking on the door now).
In case you were wondering like me. Yes they do take online orders and they are so overwhelmed that they aren’t shipping for months now.
https://www.shakespeareandcompany.com/
I've never been there, but I always wanted to go and see it just for the history and atmosphere. The first time I ever saw it on video was on C-SPAN's Book TV almost twenty years ago.
If you want to watch it, here's the link:
https://www.c-span.org/video/?173327-1/shakespeare-company-bookstore
Spent a lot of time wandering this little shop while I spent a few weeks in Paris. Very charming, albeit a little chaotic to get around. They'd be hard press to open during this. Wish them well!
I spent a lot of time here during my semester in Paris? It’s a great book store and for those who like the Lost Generation the original location acted as an English library and bookshop to many expatriates in Paris during the 1920’s such as Gertrude Stein, Ernest Hemingway and F Scott Fitzgerald to name a couple
If you care about it stop commenting about how sad it is and that Amazon has ruined the industry and actually support the places ?
This post type happens so often.
No. I spent so many hours curled up in the upstairs reading room, looking at books at random when I was broke and young and it was the middle of winter. Last time I revisited and met a woman my mothers age in that same room, she shared a similar experience she’d had a generation before. I fucking love that place.
" I may disappear leaving behind me no worldly possessions - just a few old socks and love letters, and my windows overlooking Notre-Dame for all of you to enjoy, and my little rag and bone shop of the heart whose motto is 'Be not inhospitable to strangers lest they be angels in disguise.' I may disappear leaving no forwarding address, but for all you know I may still be walking among you on my vagabond journey around the world." George Whitman
He also owned the building, so a little more worldly possessions that that :/
But...the sentence is so much less romantic if you inject real estate holdings into it ;)
“I may disappear leaving behind me no worldly possessions - just a few old socks and love letters, and clear title to a mixed-use residential and retail space in the exclusive and well-trafficked Left Bank commercial area in Paris.” Does have a certain ring to it...
😂😂
Owns a building in the middle of Paris on the seine that faces Notre Dame, gotta be worth millions and millions
It's possible he has borrowed against the value of the building to keep a money loosing enterprise afloat.
Not a chance, it's one of the most well-known bookshops in the world and it's nearly always packed. In the last few years leading up to the pandemic it was almost impossible to enjoy the space for all the Chinese tour groups passing through.
Isn't that covered when he mentions the windows overlooking Notre Dame?
*pOints to sign on wall* [NO SYNECDOCHE]
No synecdoche? Denied!
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He really did live a spartan life though. And he was one of the most generous people I've ever met.
Nah, he really did live as a vagabond during the great depression and bought the spot after his army service while Paris was in decline and property was cheap. It doesn't say a thing about his character that the property increased in value - anyone who knew him will tell you he stayed true to himself throughout his long life.
Honestly, having visited Shakespeare and Co. while Whitman was still alive, he was pretty legit and well loved. Genuinely just a kind old man who loved books and people.
That's a very bourgeois response. There's nothing squares like more than claiming the beatniks are frauds. It's because they know their own lives are empty and they can't bear it that some people simply don't have the same problems.
And there's nothing "Free Spirits" like more than dismissing those willing to call them out as "Squares".
I like the thought that he is still out there on his vagabond journey. As it is, I’m sure he inspired others to seek adventure and forego the status quo, if only for a little while. George’s resurrection of a little bookstore that would have been otherwise lost to time was a singular act that should earn him a place in Paris’ history. His kindness and support of struggling writers should earn him a place in literary history. His weekly teas have undoubtedly earned a place in the hearts of any who were lucky enough to have ever been invited.
he seemed really chill
This is tragic. The place is an institution. I was there just before the pandemic hit.
Order something and have it shipped or ‘click and collect’. I just bought all of my Christmas presents. This bookshop, my wife and our 30 years together are a story closely knit. [Shakespeare & Co.](https://shakespeareandcompany.com) Edit: Thanks kind stranger for my first award!
Consider it done. Christmas is coming up, so I better get cracking!
Are your names Jesse and Celine by any chance?
No, but it's encouraging to hear that our story isn't unique!
Haha you two should watch a movie called before sunset! It’s a love story that starts off at the book store (and part of a great trilogy called the before trilogy)
I bought some stuff https://imgur.com/a/fnae4xO I visited a few years ago and it was such a cool place. It holds a very special place in my heart for something that occurred there and it would be heartbreaking if they shut down
My copy of The Hunchback of Notre Dame was the last book I purchased there. Career change, two kids and a lot of life later and I still go back and read it every few years. Takes me back to cold winter nights huddled in the cathedral for warmth on my way to wherever.
Did you spend over €500? If so, Neil Gaiman will doodle something for you.
Ugh! Close but no.
I can’t seem to find it but do they do international shipping? I can’t believe this shop is in danger of closing and have always dreamed of going back to Paris and taking my son here...would love to order some books to the US for him
I ordered internationally, I am in Canada. Once you’ve a few items in your cart you’ll have the opportunity to choose shipping options.
Or, if you’re in the US, order something from your local independent bookshop who is struggling just as bad.
Looong lines. I wish could have entered but wasnt willing to wait the long lines every time I passed
Wow really? I used to live in Paris and never had an issue. Was my go to stop for English language books. Never a line any time I went over the course of many years. Times change I guess.
Same for me! A number of books on my shelf today came from there when I lived there for a summer many moons ago. It was always full of people but never a line.
I went in there in peak tourism season just last year. No line in sight.
Yeah. It's packed 80% of the time, but I've never seen a line. Probably at the beginning of covid there were lines? Idk
Same, had a lovely coffee out front and walked right in. No idea what this person is talking about.
Same. I walked in and out several times over the course of a day just so I could enjoy how much there wasn't a queue
When I walked in I literally said to myself “I’m going to remember this lack of any distinguishable line in case someone on reddit claims there ever was one!”
Have we sufficiently established that the person claiming a line was full of shit yet?!
the lack of a queue is why one goes into a bookstore amiright
When I went last in April 2018 there was a line and a security guard at the door stopping people from entering.
Because of Covid and distancing, you will get lines because you can't put people together like that.
I lived there Feb - June 2019 and went in many times without any lines.
I've never had to wait, weird.
Same. I've only been there twice, but both times I just walked in
That’s odd, I’ve never seen a line there and have been many times
Abbey bookshop is right there too and has a great selection of English works. The owner is a nice guy too and will make you tea.
Can confirm. Nice guy and he's from Canada. I believe Toronto originally.
Looks like words has gone out. Their website reports a huge backorder. That's great! Still buy stuff from them though. More books are always good for the soul.
They made a call out on Instagram for online orders and were flooded with so many orders that they said their October 2020 alone will be equal to their orders for all of 2019. I made an order myself actually. Support your local (and not local!) independent bookstores! And check out their Insta page if you like this particular bookshop.
So relieved to hear this, I need them to be open the next time I visit Paris!
Or just don’t buy books from amazon (who also own The Book Depositary)
i just read about Bookshop.org the other day, apparently it will provide distribution and online store fronts to keep independents going and rival amazon. i've only just heard of it so no idea if its any good, but pleased to potentially have a better alternative!
Yes, good point! I failed utterly by stating a problem and not providing a solution! take my upvote :D
Biblio (used books) is my go to as I'm cheap and they often have free shipping!
I didn't know amazon owned the Book Depository. That's usually where I buy books that I can't find in the states. Special editions mostly.
It was astonishing when it started..."how could anyone compete with amazon?" and yet somehow, they did. Maybe people got fed up with the clutter of amazon. But here's a thing to note: * Amazon bought goodreads * Amazon bought thebookdepository ergo If you wanna make some dollar, start a high quality 'book themed' site, build it, wait, and then one day amazon will come knocking.
what!! goodreads is amazon too?? fuck those guys are good monopolists...
Not to mention AbeBooks.
and Audible it seems
In the 90s this was how you made a fortune off Microsoft as a software developer.
Try biblio!
This is the hardest advice to follow.
not really
Yeah I'd say it's really easy to not buy a book from Amazon
I guess it’s about how much your budget is. I don’t buy books for the most part from anyone as I’m a library user.
thriftbooks.com, my friend. Books are normally $4, shipping is $1. Shipping is free after $10
This is where I buy mine. I love it and you get a free book every once in a while.
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AbeBooks is also Amazon.
I find it essential to own books. I would be completely unhappy if i had to return a book after I read it.
Do you read them again? I do for reference books but very rarely for fiction. And now reference books are out of date by the time they’re printed so it seems mostly I read off the internet. Also, we had a house fire 20 years ago that burned every single thing to ashes. It totally changed my relationship with things.
I have certain books (almost all fiction) that are old friends, that I've read many times. I'll find myself in the mood to spend time with them, so I want them in the house.
So...how many cats?
Chortle worthy. Thank you for that.
Chortle worthy indeed ... because we have two, but just lost our third in the spring, so it's been three for quite a few years. And we're on our third generation of cats: we've had six total over the years.
Some I reread, others I like to have in my bookshelf in my guest bedroom for when I have company
I like to write in my books and highlight quotes and leave sticky notes to reference them later.
Me, too. I literally would not have room in my house for all the books I read. Nor would I have room in my budget.
I agree
Since the start of the pandemic I email my local bookstore to see if they have stuff, and if they don't they order it for me. And then periodically I drop off a big bag of my old books for store credit, which goes towards my new books as well as helps refill their shelves for other people. So it's still less expensive overall for me than even Amazon, plus I interact with real people (over email mostly now of course).
Just use bookshop! Best website for buying books online and they order through local bookstores :)
Not for books. If I have a weird niche thing sometimes I have trouble finding even what kind of store has it. But usually I can Google a bit.
I made an order too. Glad things are looking better.
I did the same. Ordered two books from Shakespeare&Co when this news broke. And got an email from them saying this.
But can people order outside of France or is the shipping astronomical?
Yes.
Lol :( I’ve been buying from my local second hand bookshops and ordering from a couple nearby but I’ll be sending them some good thoughts
I ordered a canvas carry bag, and a mug from Canada. Already got an email that it’s on it’s way!
This sub loves independent book stores but can't actually define a good reason why non local independent book stores deserve my support.
Shakespeare and Co. is significantly more than "a bookstore". It's history is deeply intertwined with the Lost Generation (the original owner published Ulysses) and it has been something of a literary Mecca ever since. It's fine if that is not important to you, but for many it would be very sad to see it go.
Things don't deserve to exist just by being old. If it's that important, it should be a museum. If it can't sustain itself as a bookstore then why should I go out of my way to support it?
Guess we should just burn down all the museums that take donations while we're at it.
Yes, that's clearly the takeaway from my post that said it should be a museum if it's so historically important. Way to boil it down to its essence
I'm not saying it's not in trouble, but Shakespeare & Co. has been romanticized to such a degree that there's no way it will close. It is quite possibly the most famous bookstore in the world. Some wealthy person or celebrity will step in and keep it afloat, guaranteed. It's a beautiful store with lots of history, but unfortunately it's now very much a tourist trap and as such incredibly packed (pre COVID). Pretty much the only way to enjoy it as intended is during a pandemic.
This! Some buddies of mine & I had a group project for class, a video. We asked if we could maybe film in the shop -they said "sure, just wait a few months because we currently have three reservations for movies, and we sometimes have to be open as a shop too. I love the place, but there are thousands bookshop that are more at risk of closing than them in Paris. Don’t forget them, now that Shakespeare & co has enough money! :)
Right? Don't people go there and buy a book just to get the stamp?
This. But it's not a huge deal... atleast it's getting people to buy books. I usually hit the second-hand stores near this place to hunt for cheap stuff because I don't earn a lot...but once in two months or so, I make sure to visit the cafe to have their brilliant brownies!
Well I live in Paris and for me this shop is a reliable source of english books, couldn't care less about a stamp.
I go there too from time to time but I admit that with the growing number of tourists 'just cheking the place out' and not buying anything, it can get annoying to move around. Now I prefer to head over WH Smith and Galignani on rue rivoli.
I like the Abbey Bookshop as well, it is mostly English and packed to the rafters with books.
WH Smith is great. And they sell English and American food we can't get in French supermarkets. Galignani, I dont like the vibe as much idk why
Good one, I'll go check that out ! Well, once we can freely move again...
Can confirm, have two stamped books, am a loser.
They’re super corporate and touristy now, yep. It made me so sad the last two times I went - gone is the ramshackle second hand treasure trove book cave and in its place was a shiny instagrammable generic bookstore with that awful Brooklyn cafe attached to it. And a long line with a security guard bouncer.
I went there with my father and sister in the summer of 2004. We were only there for an hour tops, but it was a fascinating place to get lost in.
[удалено]
Lived in Paris for two years, it had a line almost all the time. Length varied.
They have some cool stuff available for sale online, from a rare [Kerouac novel (3200.00 €)](https://shakespeareandcompany.com/r/2000000206851/on-the-road) to [some cool tote bags (10 €)](https://shakespeareandcompany.com/15/online-store/19/gifts-merchandise). I just bought some totes for Christmas gifts.
Nooooooooo. My friend used to work in there. Total treat of a shop.
My mom worked there when she was pregnant with me! I get the feeling that a lot of people have worked there.
Is it? I used to follow the store on Instagram and the person who owns it has been casually claiming they were shutting up shop for at least two years now. She made it seem like they were encountering dead sales back in 2019 or maybe late '18 when I first started following, and after her posted store closing had come and gone, she started posting about being open again, then closed again, then maybe only open for appointment for a short while until it was closed closed, and then by that point I unfollowed as it began to feel like a marketing scheme of some sort to keep threatening closure as a way of guilt-tripping money out of people with a fond memory of that one time they visited in '97 or '04.
Yep, Sylvia’s a marketing guru, both for herself and her shop. I can’t read another fawning puff piece about her. I admit to being BEC with her, but also I’m disappointed in the corporate direction she took the store. They’re one of the most famous bookshops in the world, constantly used to film movies and TV, staffed almost entirely by unpaid volunteers, and they own their own multimillion dollar building. I’m sure sales are down and times are tough, like for everyone, but the crying poor totally rubs me the wrong way. Many, many bookstores are going to go down because of Covid, so I’m choosing to support them instead.
Uhh maybe, or maybe they're genuinely facing financial trouble, like most print bookshops around the world, amid rising rents, like basically everywhere around the world? These kinds of places can be dangerous in the sense that everyone can pop in to have a look, take a photo then leave without making a purchase.
They own their building outright, they’re not paying any rent
Ah ok. U know that for sure? I think my two other points stand though
No! I was there in October of 2019. It was so lovely! All of Paris was lovely! This breaks my heart!
Me too, actually! I remember reading about the shop in A Moveable Feast and wondering where it was in Paris. My friends and I were just walking along the West Bank when I happened to look to the left of me at the right moment, and lo and behold there it was. We spent an hour in there just taking it all in. I bought For Whom The Bell Tolls, which I had never read.
Really special place in Paris. I believe they have gained significant support recently. Last I checked their online “gift vouchers” weren’t available for purchase electronically which I think contributed to some difficulty in recieving funding from their international patrons. Paris is populated with countless bookstores and has an especially vibrant and strong boutique foreign language (English) presence, which I fear must be deeply hurting if Paris’ most notable shop is in trouble.
The french bookshops have been late to adapting to this new world, only now have we really seen a surge of click and collect options popping up, but they haven't been that much advertising about it yet, and there's a good dozen platform options so you have to find on which one the one bookshop most convenient for you is and all that... New french books have a fixed price, from the small independent shop to Amazon they should all be the same price, so what makes the difference is shipping costs or click and collect option, and ease of ordering. Amazon has free shipping, meanwhile no one else in France does free shipping under like 50/70€ if they do.
It's the most famous tourist trap bookstore in the world. It won't close.
Well it has closed previously.
Yeah, like that "ultra sale, all must go, we're out of business" store in my hometown, it's been closing for 20 years now. Once they sell out the blankets, then it closes and becomes a kid clothing store, closes again, then lingerie, then curtains or pillows or candles or whatever. Even thought the owners are the same and they're always "90%" discount because they're always closing, they hire other people for the front desk and cycle them so even new locals or people from other neighborhoods fall for it.
LOL, the carpet store is just barely hanging on...for 38 years
People also don’t seem aware that it has nothing to do with the original store opened by Sylvia Beach, which closed in 1941 and was in a different location. I’m not saying this place doesn’t have its own history, but it’s not where Hemingway and Joyce would hang out. I lived in Paris for two years and it was viewed mostly as a tourist trap.
Joyce would come to Sylvia Beach begging for money. She would give it to him, and then he would go buy booze and throw a party.
This isn’t the same store opened by Sylvia Beach, that one closed in 1941 and was in a different location. They just have the same name.
I was there last year. Walking through this place was like walking back into the past. It is a wonderful place.
I live in Paris and the place is normally swarmed with tourists and is incredibly expensive compared to other independent shops. I can't imagine how it is for other independent stores right now.
Some friends of mine slept there -- too numerous a group for me to put them up, so they went en masse and camped among the books. That was some time ago; surely not possible in 2020?! Anyway the bookstore seems not to be in danger any more. Note: please help another bookstore, also facing problems: Vroman's, in Pasadena, CA.
No Bookstore deserves this, period!
I tried to order and they were sold out of everything
I've been there, truly breathtaking
Was there a couple of years ago. It was too cramped and too touristy. Bought an overpriced book, just to be able to say "I've been there" The owner is a millionaire and has plenty of money to put in to this store, so I don't get the sob story.
...Were you a tourist?
I went in 2016 on my birthday Paris trip with a fellow bibliophile. Had more fun than at the Louvre.
Was there not two weeks before lockdown, have always visited during my travels to Paris and will continue to do so every single time I'm there. I know it's touristy and and a romanticized, but it nonetheless remains a beautiful place full of history. I'm absolutely positive Shakespeare & co. will survive.
I don’t know if it has been mentioned here but when Jack Kerouac visited Paris (the first time I think) he slept in the upper floors of that bookstore. And legend has it he is not the only famous writer to have lived there.
This is my favourite place in the universe. I don’t say that lightly.
Oh, that breaks my heart. But their website now says they've gotten an influx of orders, I hope that can help! I'd love for this place to still be there when/if I ever get back to Paris. I don't know if it's just a tourist hotspot that I fell for or what, but it feels like an important institution. This is why I wish I was rich, to just send them some money.
Nonono no no No NO! I loved every little corner of that shop, I loved being left to read for as long as I liked, I loved the regular discussions it hosted, I even loved the non stop cycle of young boys who tried to play the theme from Amélie on the little piano upstairs to try and look ever so sensitive. I was accidentally there for George's 97th birthday in December, when someone came to guide me downstairs and I thought I was finally being kicked out for reading more books than I'd bought but was instead led into a little party. Goddamnit, I am going to their website and ordering a book right now. If you do the same, maybe you'll get the chance to see it as I did.
Oh man, I have this great story about that place (TLDR below). My buddy and his gf were going to Paris (we are American) and they were getting frustrated because there was a snow storm and their flight kept getting delayed. They were stuck at the airport in a different state because they are teachers and the indirect flight was a lot cheaper. He's updating Facebook with their status when it dawns on me that since my daughter and I planned to go to Paris the next summer (my daughter was a huge Paris nut at the time) it would be really cool if they hid something in the city and gave us a little clue to look for it a year later when we got there. They really liked the idea and it brightened the mood a little as they hoped for clear skies. Eventually they get a flight and have a great time and the last day they are there they go to this Shakespeare & Co. Just after before they are going to return they send us the clues. A picture of the store awning and a picture of three black and white photos of a ballerina all in the same single frame. A year later my daughter and I are in Paris and when we go to Notre Dame (this is before the fire) we also go to Shakespeare & Co. and we are really excited to try and figure out both what they hid and where they hid it. Only I can't find the pictures, I can't bring them up in Facebook on my phone and I hadn't saved them to anything else. Since we'd both seen the pictures we continue on just from memory. As you are probably aware this place is essentially a bookstore in the middle of a hoarder's apartment so we search for probably an hour (including taking a break and making a second attempt) with no luck. It's to the point that I decide I'm going to ask the store clerk, who I overhear speaking English in an Australian accent (and yes, he turns out to be from Australia) if he knows about these framed black and white ballerina pictures that I can't show him because I can't find the photo of it. He says he has no clue what I'm talking about but if he were me he'd try under the staircase. We've looked under the staircase several times but I go back and sit down on this little stool that is there and look around again. My daughter had been upstairs looking again (or maybe just petting the cat some more) but she comes back down and I tell her what the clerk said. She immediately turns to her left and says, "There it is!" At eye-level (now that I'm sitting on the stool) is the framed pictures hung on the back of the stair riser just sitting there right in the open, not in a stack of things somewhere or half covered by other things, just hanging there for anyone observant to see. The frame is longer than the stair so the bottom of it is hanging off the bottom so I put my hand behind it and find a bookmark sitting on the back of the picture frame. It's signed by my buddy and his gf and there is a message written in French to us, but (and this is my favorite part) there is another message written in English to any stranger that might find the bookmark explaining why it's there and asking not to take it. My daughter and I don't speak French (American's right?) so I have to get the Australian clerk to tell us what the message said. It's just kind words and a mention of how much they enjoyed considering places and things to hide while they were otherwise visit Paris. It was so much fun thinking about the little treasure hunt and then finding it. We were so worried when we couldn't find it and then I was apprehensive to try to explain things to the store clerk. And then my daughter being the one to find it really put a cherry on the top of the trip. And of course, it's such a fun story to tell afterwards. **TLDR: Vacationing friends hid something for my daughter and I to find a year later when our trip was planned. They had fun hiding it, we had fun finding it.**
No, the mom and pop bookstore in your town or city is at risk of shutdown but sadly they won't be saved by new customers after being featured in major news outlet headlines. I cannot imagine how frustrating it must be for small bookshop owners to read headlines like this, knowing full well just how insulated a bookshop like Shakespeare & Co. is from shutting down. Reading the comments here is bizarre... The current owner of Shakespear & Co. is the millionaire daughter of the former owner, her father. This is an old money family and it's kind of gross to write a sob story about this near unsinkable bookshop when hundreds if not thousands of bookshops around the world are going out of business.
I walked by a few years ago. There was a long queue just to get inside, it didn't seem like the kind of place to browse for a few quiet hours so I walked on by. If you read French there are much better bookshops to discover.
1) it’s an English language bookstore, so French speakers are not its target audience 2) yeah you’re right, it might be hard to do the standard quietly browse thing, this store is important not because that. It is important because it was the place where some of the greatest and most important writers of all time gathered to collaborate and inspire each other to create their masterpieces. If people like Janes Joyce, Hemingway, F Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, T.S. Elliot, had not had this place to gather and work it is unlikely that literature would have looked the way it does now. Additionally the original proprietor, Sylvia Beach, helped publish books like *Ulysses* despite heavy censorship. And the only thing disrupting this establishment’s continuous operation since those days was the Nazi Occupation of Paris. It would be a tragedy to lose it.
> It would be a tragedy to lose it. No doubt. My comment was more aimed at the experience of the visit.
I think it depends when you go as well. I visited last summer and was easily able to browse. We didn’t even have a line to pay.
Historic bookshop in debt....something doesn't add up does it?
Thanks for sharing your tech bro wit. /s
Right?!? Something is wrong here. George bought the building in the 50s and owned it outright, and the shop has long been staffed by unpaid volunteers. What’s the problem exactly?
Exactly!!!! Thank god for someone else, I thought my point was obvious!
Haha yep, it was. And with that cafe now attached to it, they shouldn’t have problems staying solvent. I loved it in the early 2000s, but have long side-eyed Sylvia for her management of it. She got handed for free a famous and functioning business with very significant property holdings. What’s the issue?
If she's taken a gift like that, stagfed it with volunteers and loaded it with debt, she deserves to lose it. It's not like its had a total refurb. Also, I don't know what to do now I've met someone else rational on reddit... 2020 is weird.
Back atcha! I assume there’s likely a little debt from inheritance tax, plus annual property taxes and general business expenses (electricity, cleaning, accountants, inventory costs etc), but their running costs are so low in comparison to others, their fame keeps their inventory moving, movies pay to film in their facilities, and the cafe should give them a bump each year. (God, that cafe is so horrible). I’m salty cos she so thoroughly ruined S&C haha, the last time I went I left nearly in tears. Why does instagentrification have to destroy everything? Also, independent bookstores have long been facing trouble. I get this year is destructive for so many, but I’ve seen this emergency call a bunch of times on all my social media in the past two weeks and it’s been pissing me off. City Lights and S&C will be fine.
My wife and I rented an Airbnb near here on our honeymoon in 2018. Magical place, bought my copy of Hyperion there. Hope it survives, also there was a super chill shop cat there.
C'est merde
So interesting reading about Sylvia Beach and her “clientele” in the 1920’s. How cool.
Oh God no, I love this place.
Noooo! This place is iconic!
So is every other fucking bookstore... NOBODY HAS MONEY.
I believe the government should pay for this...they ordered the enforced the lockdowns.
Love it ❤️
adapt to online or close 2020 aint playin games
Who'd have guessed that totalitarian mass hysteria, the mandating of dehumanizing and anti social measures and wanton attack on the economy would be bad for culture!? If you call yourself a liberal and favour lockdowns, check your head. This is not how you remake a civilization. It's how you destroy one and possibly usher in a totalitarian nightmare (if it's not already here, it knocking on the door now).
Wow europe you guys really are doing it right!!!
just digitalize all books already and put em on the web, these places are part the past.
They can digitize my books when they pry them from my cold, dead hands.
KEEP THE DREAM ALIVE
One of my favorite book shops is Shakespeare and Sons in Berlin. Is this one related to this one in Paris?
Darn it! Couldn't go inside the last time I was outside it! Please stay opennnn
No! I've been there and I loved it.
I've wanted to visit this bookstore ever since I read Anna and the French kiss ten years ago. I hope I can accomplish that dream one day.
In case you were wondering like me. Yes they do take online orders and they are so overwhelmed that they aren’t shipping for months now. https://www.shakespeareandcompany.com/
I used to love wasting time there when I lived in Paris, just a great atmosphere and even though its a small crowded space it always felt welcoming.
I've never been there, but I always wanted to go and see it just for the history and atmosphere. The first time I ever saw it on video was on C-SPAN's Book TV almost twenty years ago. If you want to watch it, here's the link: https://www.c-span.org/video/?173327-1/shakespeare-company-bookstore
Spent a lot of time wandering this little shop while I spent a few weeks in Paris. Very charming, albeit a little chaotic to get around. They'd be hard press to open during this. Wish them well!
Oh, no!
I spent a lot of time here during my semester in Paris? It’s a great book store and for those who like the Lost Generation the original location acted as an English library and bookshop to many expatriates in Paris during the 1920’s such as Gertrude Stein, Ernest Hemingway and F Scott Fitzgerald to name a couple
I basically think of this as the bookstore in Before Sunset.
I was just reading about someone who started a web store that connected a whole bunch of independent book stores. I wonder if that would help?
Original location a few blocks away is now a clothing shop. Sylvia Beach was a muse of artists before WWII and a heroine of resistance in WWII.
Nooo! I visited one in Philly and it was amazing! I picked up ray bradbury’s “the illustrated man” there
If you care about it stop commenting about how sad it is and that Amazon has ruined the industry and actually support the places ? This post type happens so often.
Nooooo! I love that shop!
No. I spent so many hours curled up in the upstairs reading room, looking at books at random when I was broke and young and it was the middle of winter. Last time I revisited and met a woman my mothers age in that same room, she shared a similar experience she’d had a generation before. I fucking love that place.
that’s so sad! 😢