For my college graduation present, my family went to London for 12 days. About halfway through our trip, we took the Chunnel to Paris to spend the day. My goal for my first time in Paris was to visit the famous bookstore, Shakespeare & Company. This legendary bookstore is down the street from Notre Dame and on the Seine. The first location housed writers like Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald while the writers from the Beat Generation like William Burroughs and Allen Ginsburg made the current location their home. After walking through the two-story shopped where writers could come to write amongst all the books, I decided to pick out my own books to buy. I decided to add to my Fitzgerald collection with some short stories.
Book #1
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- Head and Shoulders
- The Cut-Glass Bowl
- The Four Fists
- “O Russet Witch!”
- Crazy Sunday
Book #2
- Babylon Revisited
- The Cut-Glass Bowl
- The Lost Decade
I had read “Babylon Revisited” in a college writing class and I loved it. It’s about a father coming back to care for his daughter after getting his life together. I also really enjoyed “Head and Shoulders” which follows the relationship of a intellectual prodigy and a chorus girl. “The Four Fists” that highlighted four different times in a man’s life when he was punched in the face, was another fave.
One thing I love about Shakespeare & Company is that they stamp each book you buy, almost like an inscription. I also bought one of their canvas totes that I swear smelled like baguettes for months. I hope to make it back to the bookstore and Paris in general sometime soon!
Lindsay Glenne 