Former journalist and novelist Mercer (High Times and Sweet Crimes) is broke and on the run. So he leaves Canada, ending up in Paris, where he takes refuge at Shakespeare & Co., a bookstore renowned for its literary history and promise to house writers free of charge in exchange for their work. The list of "so and so slept here" reads like a who's who of literature.  (from bn.com)


This book has been on my reading list for a long while.  I was looking to buy it but never could find it in the book stores.
I guess I could have ordered it but there is something about buying a book in an actual book store that is satisfying to me.
Anyway...I decided to request it via Interlibrary Loan.
I'm very glad I did.  Mercer didn't pull many punches in this book.  Living the literary bohemian lifestyle was a dirty business.  People were penniless, unwashed and very eccentric...but mostly it seemed real.

As much as I love a good hot shower and a clean bathroom...and as much as I fear germs and bedbugs, I sort of wanted to experience living in this strange bookstore in Paris.  Who wouldn't?