The Paris Bookseller

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Westgate Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / Historical / Maher, Kerri	4-week checkout	Due 05-23-2024

"Discover the dramatic story of how a humble bookseller fought against incredible odds to bring one of the most important books of the 20th century to the world in this new novel from the author of The Girl in the White Gloves. When bookish young American Sylvia Beach opens Shakespeare and Company on a quiet street in Paris in 1919, she has no idea that she and her new bookstore will change the course of literature itself. Shakespeare and Company is more than a bookstore and lending library: Many of the most prominent writers of the Lost Generation, like Ernest Hemingway, consider it a second home. It's where some of the most important literary friendships of the twentieth century are forged-none more so than the one between Irish writer James Joyce and Sylvia herself. When Joyce's controversial novel Ulysses is banned, Beach takes a massive risk and publishes it under the auspices of Shakespeare and Company. But the success and notoriety of publishing the most infamous and influential book of the century comes with steep costs. The future of her beloved store itself is threatened when Ulysses' success brings other publishers to woo Joyce away. Her most cherished relationships are put to the test as Paris is plunged deeper into the Depression and many expatriate friends return to America. As she faces painful personal and financial crises, Sylvia-a woman who has made it her mission to honor the life-changing impact of books-must decide what Shakespeare and Company truly means to her"-- Provided by publisher.

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

I loved this Book! submitted by Brett Griffiths on August 26, 2023, 8:14am This book has a little bit for everyone: history, politics, romance--and a bit of intrigue and drama, to boot.
I wasn't sure what to expect from this novel. I heard an interview on NPR and added it to my reading list. I could not have asked for more. This book tells the story of the formidable Sylvia Beach, founder and owner of a small, independent bookstore in Paris that opened in the early part of the 20th centurey and sold (still sells) English-language books. It was Sylvia's determination--and at great expense to her personal well-being--that James Joyce's Ulysses was published. Although much of the content is weighty and intellectual, the writing has a lightness of a summer read. As it also depicts the plausible interactions and conversations between some of the most influential writers of high modernism, it gives the reader a sense of "sitting in" on these conversations and partaking of some of the juiciest gossip spurring the art, literature, and philosopy of the century to come. This book inspired me to set a goal to travel to Shakespeare & Co., which was re-opened with new owners and stands today in Paris in her memory and in service to readers and writers of today. Give it a read!