My Life in a Parisian Bookstore

Shakespeare and Company bookstore on 37 Rue de la Bucherie opened its doors in 1951. Since then, it had become legend, not just for its selection of English-language books but also for its hospitality. Over the second-floor archway, the shop’s founder, George Whitman, had painted the words “Be kind to strangers, for they may be angels in disguise.” The store lived by that motto. Shakespeare and Company claimed to have hosted 30,000 travelers on the narrow beds tucked between its bookshelves in the years since it opened. These guests—including writers like Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Anais Nin—were known as “Tumbleweeds.”

Full story: Literary Hub