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Events at a Glance
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Letter from Paris
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We are thrilled to announce the launch of our new website,
which aims to bring a bit of the bookshop and Paris to you, wherever you might be:
www.shakespeareandcompany.com.
It includes a blog, audio recordings from our events, more archival photographs, and (finally!) a way for all our far-flung friends to have books from the shop shipped to them anywhere in the world.
The website has been carefully created by Paris based Spill.net.
For us, having an online shop isn’t about trying to compete with the big internet companies or ignoring the existence of e-books.
It’s about acknowledging the new consumer norms of convenience and efficiency, all while adventuring ever deeper into the Wonderland of what an independent bookstore can be.
Continue reading Sylvia Whitman's full letter on Le Blog.
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We've given each genre its own page
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In order to bring a sense of the actual bookshop to the website, we have created sections by genre which more or less reflect the sections within the shop.
Each page features a list of approximately ten titles which you would typically find in the corresponding section in the bookshop.
They include both new and classic titles and are intended to give a flavour of the section as a whole.
People associate our bookshop with many things:
Lost Generation writers,
Beat Generation writers, romance,
French children's classics,
free-spirited ex-pats,
the writing life,
Shakespeare,
and many more strange and delightful themes. Take a look at our Shakespeare and Company Classics to see some of our most popular titles.
Part of our online collection showcases
signed books,
such as Philipp Meyer's
American Rust
and his highly acclaimed second novel,
The Son,
among a range of others.
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We have bookshelves
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We are a team of about 30 booklovers with a very, very long list of books between us that we like to recommend.
Rather than arm-wrestle* over whose books make it on to a staff recommendations list,
we have each curated our own bookshelves along whatever subjects take our fancy.
Karolina has a shelf of books that look at the role of art in our lives,
Octavia has tackled dysfunctional families (not
just the preserve of Jonathan Franzen),
Thos has put together a list of books in which water makes a big splash,
and Alexandre has assembled some of literature's most irresistible femmes fatales...
In other words, there are some idiosyncratic themes at work here. We hope you enjoy delving into them!
*In reality we are Rock Paper Scissors people
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We suggest gift ideas
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If you're looking for an extra special something to send a loved one, or perhaps a treat for yourself,
Shakespeare and Company has a delightful collection of keepsakes to brighten up your day.
Our selection of cloth bags have been designed with an eco-friendly reader-on-the-go in mind,
ideal for carrying books, books, and more books!
There is a bag for every budget, ranging from our classic 'Facade Tote' all
the way up to our colorful yellow
or green 'Deluxe Totes'.
For all the budding Hemingways and Austens out there, our collaboration
with Astier de Villatte and
Clairefontaine has produced a collection
of beautifully designed notebooks worthy of all your creative inkings.
Write a love poem, then carry it around in one of our tote bags until you find the perfect person to read it to.
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We make your books unique
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As part of our brand new website and webshop, we’re thrilled to present our unique book-customization options.
Watch a video of our customization team in action and see the full list of
what we offer by clicking the “We make your books unique” illustration on the Homepage.
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We sell rare books
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We offer a selection of rare books to purchase through our online store to suit
everybody’s budget, such as a copy of For Whom The Bells tolls by
Ernest Hemingway or Iris Murdoch’s The Sea, The Sea.
We package the books in-house, taking enormous care with the wrapping, to ensure they are delivered to you in mint condition.
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We take you Down The Rabbit Hole
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We have a wild and wonderful visual archive here at Shakespeare and Company.
Ever since we first opened our doors, people have been taking amazing photos in and around the shop—in fact,
we often find astonishing things hidden between the pages of forgotten library books!
Today, our staff and friends continue to capture our shop events and community life on film, adding to the collection all the time.
For a glimpse into this madcap world, join us Down The Rabbit Hole and
follow us on Tumblr.
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We bring our events to you
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As well as listing what’s coming up,
the events section of our jazzy new website also features an archive of photos and podcasts from past readings,
so you can enjoy the experience from the comfort of your sofa/bed/luxury reading hammock.
Highlights include Eleanor Catton speaking
with unearthly wisdom about The Luminaries,
Will Self revealing that his life doesn’t have chapters,
let alone a plot, and Jimmy Page on being an all-round rock ‘n’ roll legend.
There’s also poetry,
history,
politics,
and lots and lots of excellent fiction.
We’d love you to take a look around!
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We (Le) Blog
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We’ve created Le Blog to
bring the bookstore’s busy life to the web in order to stay better connected with all of our international friends.
Posts will come from shop staff, special guest writers, and, of course, our charming resident Tumbleweeds.
Highlights so far include creator of the Readwomen2014 campaign Joanna Walsh
on her favourite books by female writers that year,
On the Road, Tumbleweed-style by Ben Aitken,
and writer Adam Biles on the remarkable evening John Berger came
to speak at the bookshop.
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What I Talk About When I Talk About Running
HARUKI MURAKAMI
This book is not only the autobiography of one of the most famous contemporary Japanese writers, it is also an introspection about getting old and living in harmony with your body and soul.
Page after page you'll discover how Murakami's writing is influenced by running. For him, it's not only a sport but a lifestyle which is necessary to his inspiration.
A powerful Read on → the strength of imagination, effort, and routine as a key to writing.
~ Camille
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We Should All Be Feminists
CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHIE
Succinct and humorous, Chimamanda Adichie nullifies preconceptions about feminism and undeniably makes it everyone's issue.
"If it is true that the full humanity of women is not in our culture then we can and must make it our culture."
All literate human beings should read this; if I ever have a child it will be compulsory reading for them.
~ Melody
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The Emperor of
Ice-Cream
DAN GUNN
Not to be confused with the Wallace Stevens poem of the same name, Dan Gunn's new novel is told from the viewpoint of Lucia. Through her, we see three decades in Scotland's history and the emergence of Fascism in Europe. This is a brave, bold novel whose story is centuries old, but considering the fact that xenophobia, racism, war, and terror still very much surround us today, it’s not only entertaining but important.
~ Thos
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Lurid & Cute
ADAM THIRLWELL
How to describe this book? Thirlwell's third novel is easily his most simple, clever, and sordid,
containing, among other things, an orgy and fake guns.
It's as though Dostoyevsky decided to pop up again in 2015 to create the banjo-playing hipster narrator living with his wife and dog in his parents’ house.
Modern and unapologetic, this is a great novel by a young, witty, and entirely idiosyncratic writer.
~ Thos
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The Sculptor
SCOTT MCCLOUD
I read this in one sitting, engrossed in the grey-blue-black images appearing on the pages.
An artist, desperate to be known, makes a deal with death. Two hundred days to do anything with his hands and discover success...
but he falls in love along the way. Set in New York City, filled with absorbing characters questioning time, morality, and love, this one got me back into graphic novels.
~ Sylvia
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Season to Taste
NATALIE YOUNG
This book won't leave you indifferent. After thirty years of marriage, Lizzie’s had enough.
A single blow with the shovel caves in her husband's head and now she’s free—but she also has to dispose of his body.
She decides to eat him piece by piece, until there is nothing left. As The Times said, this book is "stomach-churning and terrific".
~ Sylvia
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