Irish Examiner View: Heartening to see support for famous bookshop

Former French President Francois Hollande bought books from Shakespeare and Co to help the famous bookshop ride out the pandemic storm.

How heartening to hear that book-lovers the world over responded in force to a call for support from Shakespeare and Co, the famous Paris bookshop that published James Joyce’s Ulysses when no one else dared.

The bookshop, located a stone’s throw from Notre-Dame cathedral, enjoyed a 50-fold increase in online orders after it emailed customers to tell them it was struggling. Coronavirus restrictions led to an 80% drop in sales since March.

The response was overwhelming: weekly online orders jumped from 100 to more than 5,000. The bookstore is not the original one owned by Ulysses publisher Sylvia Beach but it is still hugely popular with tourists who seek it out when visiting the City of Light.

It is also deeply loved at home. Former French president François Hollande was among those who bought books to help Shakespeare and Co ride out the pandemic storm. It’s a timely message to readers everywhere that this is the time to support bookshops closer to home if we want them to be here when lockdown finally ends.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/artsandculture/arid-40074686.html[/readmore]