Shakespeare and Company, recommendations and upcoming readings for April
George Whitman and Sylvia Beach Whitman photograph by Pascal Gely.
Owned and operated by the Whitman family since 1951, the Parisian institution Shakespeare and Company has been providing Anglophones a literary haven for decades. At 91 years of age, owner and founder George Whitman still keeps an eye on the shop with his daughter Sylvia Beach Whitman.
The shop is packed with books in every corner, nook and cranny. In addition to a great selection, they have monthly readings and the line up is very impressive.
Ms. Whitman shared with I V Y paris some of her team's recommended books for the month that correspond with this month's Paris expositions:
MARIE ANTOINETTE by Antoina Fraser
Read the wonderfully written biography of Marie Antoinette before going to the exhibition at The Grand Palais. Antonia Fraser's lavish and engaging portrait of Marie Antoinette, one of the most recognizable women in European history, excites compassion and regard for all aspects of her subject, immersing the reader not only in the coming-of-age of a graceful woman, but also in the unraveling of an era.
As The New Yorker said, "Absorbing as ever. Fraser's blend of insight and research persuade us that this unfortunate queen deserves neither the vilification nor the idealization she has received."
Marie Antoinette at the Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais
AUGURIES OF INNOCENCE: POEMS by Patti Smith
This is the first book of poetry from Patti Smith in more than a decade. It marks a major accomplishment from a poet and performer who has inscribed her vision of our world in powerful anthems, ballads, and lyrics.
In this intimate and searing collection, Smith joins in that great tradition of troubadours, journeymen, wordsmiths, and artists who respond to the world around them in fresh and original language. Her influences are eclectic and striking: Blake, Rimbaud, Picasso, Arbus, and Johnny Appleseed. Smith is an American original; her poems are oracles for our times.
Patti Smith at the Fondation Cartier
DOUBLE GAME by Sophie Calle
This was the first important book by Sophie Calle to be published in English and earned fervent international praise for its concept, content and stunning design. The story begins with Maria, the fictional character in Paul Auster's novel, Leviathan. Most of Maria's "works" are, in fact, based on those of Sophie Calle. The first section of Double Game takes us through the few original works by Maria that Sophie makes her own, shown both in their fictional context and illustrated by Calle's actual reproduction of them.
The second section takes the story further into the heart of Calle's world, with a series of Calle's seminal narrative and abstract works in text and images that were appropriated by Maria in Leviathan. The third section of the book takes the dialogue directly to Maria's inventor, Paul Auster, who in turn takes Calle as his subject, inventing for her the Gotham Handbook, which offers "Personal Instructions for SC on How to Improve Life in New York City (Because she asked...)."
I remember walking, with a friend, to this book shop on my first visit to PAris some years ago, climbing the stairs and just sitting on the bench staring through the window.. (and of course the little "cupboard with the type writer)... I cannot begin to express how I feel when i am there. Each visit to Paris I do the same.
( I wondered if the comedy "Black Books" was based on this shop?)
Posted by: simon | Apr 09, 2026 at 01:07 AM