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debz57a52's review against another edition
3.0
I can easily say I would never have picked up this book if it weren't for my book club. Although I generally like memoirs, and I obviously love books, I had never heard of this author or George Whitman and his independent bookstore, Shakespeare and Company, even though it IS right across the street from Notre Dame in Paris.
The bookstore is obviously a special place, with circuitous paths leading to different rooms and shelves where books are - maybe - organized haphazardly and two or three-deep. Those who are down on their luck, especially artist types, can sleep at the store if George feels you are a good sort, and in exchange for an hour or two of your time each day. I doubt there are all that many places like that around here, probably because communism in its purist, non-fascist sense, is something of a dirty word in the U.S.
The author's account of his time at Shakespeare and Company reads something like an annotated diary, with regular events and background information to the store explained in full detail. Although there are some ups and downs in the author's tale, though, it really does feel like reading a diary - a little boring, a little self-absorbed, a little monotonous. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad to learn about such a place and get a perspective from someone who grew so close to the owner, George, but I don't know that I will recommend it to anyone except those interested in traveling to Paris and learning some of the minutiae of one area.
The bookstore is obviously a special place, with circuitous paths leading to different rooms and shelves where books are - maybe - organized haphazardly and two or three-deep. Those who are down on their luck, especially artist types, can sleep at the store if George feels you are a good sort, and in exchange for an hour or two of your time each day. I doubt there are all that many places like that around here, probably because communism in its purist, non-fascist sense, is something of a dirty word in the U.S.
The author's account of his time at Shakespeare and Company reads something like an annotated diary, with regular events and background information to the store explained in full detail. Although there are some ups and downs in the author's tale, though, it really does feel like reading a diary - a little boring, a little self-absorbed, a little monotonous. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad to learn about such a place and get a perspective from someone who grew so close to the owner, George, but I don't know that I will recommend it to anyone except those interested in traveling to Paris and learning some of the minutiae of one area.
vegprincess's review against another edition
3.0
This wasn't as good as I was expecting it to be. There were a few parts that just dragged for me, which made me feel bored with the whole thing.
maryk171's review against another edition
3.0
There were times when I was reading this book that I had to stop and ask myself, 'did this really happen?' Some of Mercer's stories just seemed too good and too embellished to be true. But for the most part, it was a very interesting book despite my doubts.
halfmanhalfbook's review against another edition
4.0
As every book lover knows, there is something special about a bookshop, but the famous, Shakespeare and Company, in Paris is another level again. Originally founded in 1919 by Sylvia Beach, she was the first to distribute Ulysses by joyce, and counted among her friends Scott Fitzgerald and Hemingway. After her death, George Whitman bought the stock and re-founded his own shop in homage to hers. Originally called Le Mistral, he renamed it Shakespeare and Company on the 400th anniversary of the bard’s birthday. Whitman had always been a wanderer, walking all over the States, Mexico and Central America. The charity and kindness that people showed him on his travels, inspired his philosophy “Be not inhospitable to strangers lest they be angels in disguise.” The bookshop was to become a haunt and dwelling for aspiring poets and writers, and a number of the staff lived in the shop too. He called them Tumbleweeds; they had few responsibilities, but they included, producing a short autobiography, helping out in the bookshop for a few hours a day and reading a book a day.
Mercer started out as a journalist, reporting court cases and other news items for a local paper. After a run in with a criminal contact he decided that he need to leave Canada for his own safety. Arriving in Paris he turns up at the bookshop as he has heard that it can be a refuge. Whitman says he can stay for a while, and says he can stay in the Antiquarian room, but he must say to the current resident, a poet called Simon, that after five years it is time for him to move on. Simon proves elusive, and when he does catch up with him to pass on the news he seems distraught. They agree on a time period for him to go, but when Mercer says that Simon wasn’t going to leave, he expects a scene, but Whitman shrugs it off.
As he settles into Paris life and the bookshop, he starts to befriend the other people that are living there. Whitman is a man who collects favourites, Mercer becomes one at one point, before the latest new member overtakes him. It is a bit chaotic, he is forever leaving money in books, there are a number of thefts from unguarded tills, and there are always new people and others moving on. They have to find places to shower and bathe and having very little money himself, he is taught by Kurt the cheapest and best places to eat from. For a time they are fed by a staff member of the New Zealand Embassy, and have to sneak in and stay quiet so they don’t get caught. And in this place of misfits, great things have emerged. It is thought that at least seven books have been written there, and many times that have been started or conceived.
It was a really lovely book to read. Mercer has brought the bookshop and its many characters to life and gives us a flavour of Parisian life at the time. There are some funny parts too as they sail a little too close to the law. Whitman is quite a man too, flawed but generous, this bookshop that he has given to the world is now in safe hands as his daughter is now running it.
Must pay it a visit one day.
Mercer started out as a journalist, reporting court cases and other news items for a local paper. After a run in with a criminal contact he decided that he need to leave Canada for his own safety. Arriving in Paris he turns up at the bookshop as he has heard that it can be a refuge. Whitman says he can stay for a while, and says he can stay in the Antiquarian room, but he must say to the current resident, a poet called Simon, that after five years it is time for him to move on. Simon proves elusive, and when he does catch up with him to pass on the news he seems distraught. They agree on a time period for him to go, but when Mercer says that Simon wasn’t going to leave, he expects a scene, but Whitman shrugs it off.
As he settles into Paris life and the bookshop, he starts to befriend the other people that are living there. Whitman is a man who collects favourites, Mercer becomes one at one point, before the latest new member overtakes him. It is a bit chaotic, he is forever leaving money in books, there are a number of thefts from unguarded tills, and there are always new people and others moving on. They have to find places to shower and bathe and having very little money himself, he is taught by Kurt the cheapest and best places to eat from. For a time they are fed by a staff member of the New Zealand Embassy, and have to sneak in and stay quiet so they don’t get caught. And in this place of misfits, great things have emerged. It is thought that at least seven books have been written there, and many times that have been started or conceived.
It was a really lovely book to read. Mercer has brought the bookshop and its many characters to life and gives us a flavour of Parisian life at the time. There are some funny parts too as they sail a little too close to the law. Whitman is quite a man too, flawed but generous, this bookshop that he has given to the world is now in safe hands as his daughter is now running it.
Must pay it a visit one day.
rainbowfish523's review against another edition
4.0
As a former obsessive frequenter of Shakespeare and Co., Mercer's memoir brought the bookstore's eccentric magic back to me, with its bizarre characters and familiar details. The narration got to be a bit too smug at times, constantly reinforcing Mercer's belief that he was George Whitman's right-hand man, but it could be glossed over enough to still enjoy the intriguing misadventures of living in a bookstore.
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