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Paris
Cafe: The Select Crowd
Two
devoted patrons of the celebrated spot that has served coffee and
booze to Hemingway, Picasso and
numerous other notables display their enduring affection in words
and drawings.
Fitch (Appetite for Life: The Biography of Julia Child,
1997, etc.) joins forces with illustrator and editorial cartoonist
Tulka to fashion a charming love-letter to their favorite hangout:
Café Le Sélect in Paris. The format
and text are as unpretentious as a paper napkin, and readers' responses
will range from sighs of nostalgia (aw, they no longer roast their
own beans!) to gasps of surprise (poet Hart Crane once started a
brawl there) to smiles -- maybe even laughs -- at the myriad illustrations,
many of which consume and entire page. Among the standouts: Hart
Crane pictured with a leering sailor in the near background: 18
varieties of French noses: a youthful Bill Murray looking frisky:
a well-coiffed Hemingway, writing implement in hand: Isadora Duncan
reading a newspaper about the Sacco and Vanzetti case. But this
is not just a gallery of celebrities. Tulka also provides full-page
drawings of each waiter and many genial caricatures of today's regulars.
Meanwhile, Fitch swiftly sketches Le Sélect's history. It
opened in 1925, is mentioned in The Sun Also Rises, has
been run by the same family since 1978. The authors believe the
café has endured because of its history, its location (close
to the Metro), its determination to avoid commercialization (it
sells no T-shirts or refrigerator magnets) and its devotion to service.
The owners and employees treat the regulars well, allowing them
to sit and sip as long as they want. The authors also offer the
history of coffee and cafés, a few of Le Sélect's
top recipes and a description of the its routines and rituals.
A tribute so pleasant and persuasive that swarming tourists may
make it difficult for Fitch and Tulka to find a table.
--
Kirkus Review
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| The
Grand Literary Cafés of Europe [UK]
“Tells
the fascinating stories behind some of the finest literary cafés
in more than twenty European cities” -- Traveller
in France
“A lavish tour” -- The Travel Bookseller
“A beautiful book” -- The Sainsbury’s
Magazine
“This fascinating book charts the evolution of the café
and takes us on a tour of some of Europe’s finest literary
establishments” --Royal Wings Magazine |
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The Erotic Life Of Anais Nin
Remarkably
intimate, hypnotic, probing portrait --Publishers Weekly
Manages
to unravel the 'hidden image in the tapestry' with a truly Jamesian
talent --Le Figaro
Superbly
written, sexually charged --Booklist
Anaïs
Nin left so many trails of clues about her several lives that
she would confound Sherlock Holmes himself. Noël Riley Fitch
has admirably decoded these secrets and, in the process, shed
full moon and sunlight on the author's revolutionary lifetime
diary. An intelligent new assessment of Nin and her writing which
will solve the riddles and answer the questions. --Erica Jong
This
remarkably intimate, hypnotic, probing portrait . . . helps explain
the charismatic power and abiding appeal of Nin. --Publishers
Weekly
Mesmerizing.
Anaïs: The Erotic Life of Anaïs Nin will give every
woman pause and cause her to reexamine her values and her own psychological
truth. --Gloria Vanderbilt |
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Literary Cafes of Paris
My
favorite. . .indispensable for any fan of the Parisian cafe scene
--Book World
Most
appealing. . .anecdotal, historical, entertaining, informative --Philadelphia
Inquirer |
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Essential reading for Hemingway fanatics
--New Republic
A joy to read, Fitch's volume conveys
the irresistible patina of passion and sense of place found by
Hemingway --Booklist |
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Appetite for Life: The Biography of Julia Child
Entertaining and informative, this
work represents the best of biographical writing --Library Journal
[Fitch's] details are exquisite.
. .An exhaustively researched, charming story of a life well lived,
and an admiring portrait of a good marriage --Kirkus
A marvelous and often mesmerizing
tale that leads through India and China during World War II and
ultimately to France, where Child acquires her culinary credentials --Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
It's certainly a deep dish on
the food world --House
Beautiful
It's got everything a best-seller
biography should have--sex, money, romance, adventure, celebrity
--Betty Fussell, Food Arts
This fabulous book proves that
Julia Child is quite a dish! It's just wonderful reading. --Beverly Sills
This book brilliantly profiles
Julia Child's gargantuan spirit and joie de vivre. Her genius
as a cooking teacher is almost an aside; it's her sheer exuberance
for living that could teach us all a few things. It's no wonder
America has long been having a mad love affair with Julia. --Charlie Trotter, Author of Charlie Trotter's
Seafood and Owner of Charlie Trotter's in Chicago
Julia Child is a national treasure,
and she is beautifully served by Noël Riley Fitch's intimate
and illuminating biography. --Justin Kaplan, Author of Mr. Clemens and Mark
Twain
I thoroughly enjoyed reading
Appetite for Life... Our admiration and love for Julia
grows stronger as we keep reading... The narration reads like
a thriller, vivid and engrossing... This well-written, lively
tale brings to life a complex, multifaceted personality, endearing,
and, at times, heroic.
--Jacques Pépin
Reading this book not only left
me itching to cook something, but also looking to discover new
and unknown delights, both of the palate and of the heart. --Alfred Portale, Gotham Bar and Grill
When I first met Julia, I felt
that I had known her all my life... now, following her story,
I believe that I have. She is astonishingly feminine, embracing
even those with whome she disagrees... providing always that the
taste is good.
--Graham Kerr
All the Julia stories are in
Fitch's book, and more, about the remarkable woman who has so
ceaselessly offered her fellow citizens the promise of decent
pleasure at every regal or normal meal. --Lionel Tiger, Darwin Professor of Anthropology, Rutgers
University |
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Sylvia Beach and the Lost Generation
Probably the best and most complete
history of that important period --Anatole Broyard, NYT
Rich, delightful, compulsively readable
--Publishers Weekly
I found it enthralling. Her book
is a brilliantly researched history of literary Paris --Eric
Hiscock, The Bookseller, London
Courageous, hardworking, self-sacrificing,
determined, witty, and charming, Sylvia Beach built her famous
Shakespeare and Company Bookshop into a veritable hub of international
literature, published Joyce's Ulysses, served as cheerful
den-mother to hundreds of writers, artists, and composers, and,
as Andre Chamson truly said, "did more to link England, the
United States, Ireland, and France than four great ambassadors
combined." Professor Fitch's richly detailed biography, the
product of ten years' research, projects Miss Beach's busy life
against the moving background of literary Paris in the golden
age between the wars, and stands as an admirable and wonderfully
readable achievement in historical biography. --Carlos Baker
An absorbing book, backed by an
impressive amount of research. Working from the rich collection
of Sylvia Beach's papers, Noël Fitch has written an objective
story that corrects many of the errors and misjudgments to be
found in other literary memoirs of those eventful years in Paris.
--Malcolm Cowley
Fitch fills out many gaps in the
Joyce story and offers us a new view of Joyce, the genius, the
injustice collector, and the most incredible literary leech of
all time. Sylvia Beach emerges as one of the most remarkable women
of the twenties. --Leon Edel
Noël Riley Fitch has written
a perfect book, full to the brim with literary history, correct
and whole-hearted both in statement and in implication. She makes
me feel and remember a good many things that happened before and
after my time. I'm glad to have lived long enough to read it.
--Glenway Wescott |
| Faith and Imagination
The
10 essays by these evangelical scholars are reflective, probing,
and analytical. In this fine book, literature and theology inform
each other, searching for Truth, grappling with the big questions.--Ralph
E. Neil, Dmin, Dean, School of Theology and Christian
Ministries
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