Vive “le Bookstore”

According to this NYT article, The French are still going to bookstores. In fact, bookstores in Paris are thriving – and book sales are increasing!  Owner of a small publishing house in Paris said “There are two things you don’t throw out in France — bread and books.” Besides their centuries-old reverence for the printed page, there is also the “Lang law” which has fixed prices for French-language books since 1981. And a small organization called Circul’livre determined to preserve the printed book takes over a small street near Montmartre once a month so customers can take as many books as they want – as long as they agree never to sell or destroy them.  Yet another reason to love Paris!

Laura

Alliance Francaise de Chicago celebrates “Black Paris”

A lecture highlighting the history of Africans and African Americans in Paris, France will be held on February 1 at the Alliance Francaise de Chicago, 810 N. Dearborn.

The travel guide discovery of historical African-American Paris will be lead by Kiratiana Freelon, a Harvard graduate who has traveled and lived in over 25 countries, and is the author of Kiratiana’s Guide to Black Paris: Get Lost and Get Found.
The lecture will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Alliance, 54 W. Chicago Avenue entrance. Free admission for members and $5 for non-members. Contact Alliance Francaise at (312) 337-1070 for details. Register at http://www.af-chicago.org/app/Calendar.asp?event=686&type=

Susan M., RA

Historian McCullough to Release Book on Paris

David McCullough, a two-time Pulitzer winning author of historical subjects, is coming out with a work about American artists and intellectuals in Paris in May. “The Greater Journey”  is his first full-length work since “1776.”

Shira S.

Ben Franklin in Paris