A place where one can feel like an English speaker in Paris…or almost that.

January 7th, 2014, 9pm

Old bookstores always intrigued me. I begin to wonder about the stories that happened there in the past, and not just the ones that was written in the books, but the ones where people are involved in. I don´t remember exactly when I first read about Shakeaspeare & Company, but I think it was when I read The Sun Also Shines, from Ernest Hemingway, where he describes Paris after the World War, with artists, writers and, of course, bohemians. In this context, Shakespeare & Company gained fame after publishing James Joyce’s Ulysses in 1922. The bookstore was house to many writers and artists of the “Lost Generation,” such as Ernest Hemingway, Ezra Pound and F. Scott Fitzgerald. It was closed in 1941, but reopened as a tribute to the first owner by George Whitman in 1964. By this time, the bookstore was frequented by many Beat Generation writers, such as Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, and William S. Burroughs. After all, when I entered the bookstore, I felt inspired, thinking in those writers whose books I had read and wondering what kind of conversations that these guys possibly had in old times.


Shu, Andi and Christine said thanks.

Share this moment

Eduardo Kolberg

I'm usually searching for the right words and images. But I guess that I will never find them. And this can be a good thing.

Create a free account

Have an account? Sign in.

Sign up with Facebook

or