The hallmark of a sophisticated and learned civilization.

Well...

The mixture of books on display seems to be much the same as anywhere else. There's no shortage of celebrity memoirs, cookery books and the like.

Mimi...thanks for sharing that. It makes me feel so much better after the disappointment about Village Voice and Red Wheelbarrow...

The point is those were English language bookstores that closed (Village Voice, etc), not French language bookstores.

sure, there are lots of the usual on display in FNAC, Joseph Gibert, etc. but there is still lots of literature. I buy books online from FNAC and always noticed that they were not allowed to discount them much, didn't know the exact laws. I can spend hours in FNAC on rue de Rennes, for example, and they even have people working there who know something about literature and authors. I was looking for some book by an author from Guadeloupe once and they knew exactly where to find it.

Patrick, have you been to La Hune in St Germain? It's one of the best art bookstores, I think. It has a long history, but I'm not sure it is still there. It hasn't been the same around there since all the expensive designer shops have moved in nearby (Vuitton, etc.). this article makes it sound like they were leaving that location, but I'm not sure

http://www.leparisien.fr/paris-75/paris-75005/la-librairie-la-hune-renonce-a-quitter-saint-germain-19-09-2011-1614177.php

I read somewhere they relocated beginning of May, I hope they are still around.

voila, they have moved to an old Dior boutique but are still around, nice photo -- now take a look at the books on display there

http://www.lexpress.fr/actualites/1/culture/la-celebre-librairie-la-hune-emmenage-chez-dior_1110865.html

keruac said La Hune was relocating.
The article didn't mention that the Red Wheelbarrel is up for sale.

ah, mimi, just one more reason to move to france.

We have a wonderful mom & pop bookstore (it's been in business for over 115 years) and it's modern, bright, and very crowded!

A few years ago a French visitor commented on how large the bookstores were in the US. Not any more.

But I don't think switching to ebooks is the end of civilization as we know it. I think some people who didn't read before are reading on ereaders. And, because they cost less, more books are being sold. But this is just my anecdotal observation.

Back on topic, ereaders are great for traveling.

“ A good book is never exhausted. It goes on whispering to you from the wall. Books perfume and give weight to a room. A bookcase is as good as a view, as the sight of a city or a river. There are dawns and sunsets in books - storms, fogs, zephyrs.
I read about a family whose apartment consists of a series of spaces so strictly planned that they are obliged to give away their books as soon as they've read them. I think they have misunderstood the way books work.
Reading a book is only the first step in the relationship. After you've finished it, the book enters on its real career. It stand there as a badge, a blackmailer, a monument, a scar. It's both a flaw in the room, like a crack in the plaster, and a decoration. The contents of someone's bookcase are part of his history, like an ancestral portrait. ”
― Anatole Broyard

Cigalechanta- great Anatole Broyard quote - merci

I loved him, he wrote for the New York Times.
I could not believe it when I once telephoned him in his Conn. home and he answered my question.

Cigalechanta, thank you for the evocative quotation of Anatole Broyard. Your mention of his name jolted my memory and I began to research. Here is a an essay about him by Henry Louis Gates Jr….long and well worth reading, http://web.princeton.edu/sites/english/neh/gates1.htm

Thank you for keeping us aware of the situation of English bookstores in Paris. A question: Mavis Gallant is a superb Canadian writer who has lived in Paris for many years. Ms. Gallant is now 89 and has lived in Paris since the 50’s. She is very private and gives few interviews. Have you ever met her, or, is there any way at all for a private person to meet her or, write to her? Merci, mon amie.
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Thank you Copperandjade,. A very interesting Essay.
I saw him once across the room at the Cedar Street Cafe
and watched the women falling all over him. I have Kafta was the Rage but not the book, Bliss, his daughter wrote about him. You could try sending a note to Gallant, simply to Paris France. I've heard such notes get to celebrities there. or maybe through her publishers,

P.S. I lost another quote by Broyard about the second hand book and what it conjured up in his mind

I went to La Hune last nightt. They actually moved back to their old digs, pleasing many old-timers.
Its nicer, brighter than where they were before and should do well.

Why would anybody want to go to some country where everybody reads from their Kindle and everybody only has conversations on Facebook?