Archives des Book Room - FUSAC Paris Classifieds

A humorous WWI story – The Square Egg by Saki

The Square Egg by H.H. Munro (SAKI) Hector Hugh Munro, 1870–1916, better known by his pen name Saki, was a British-Scottish writer celebrated for his witty, mischievous, and often macabre short stories. It is unknown why he chose that pen name, but one theory links the name to the South American saki monkey, to go along with his mischievous, exotic character that comes through in his writing. He served as a private and Lance Serjeant in the British Army during World War I, ultimately losing his life on November 14, 1916, during the Battle of the Ancre (part of the Somme offensive). Munro was sheltering in a muddy shell crater near Beaumont-Hamel, France. According to accounts of his final moments, Munro chided a fellow soldier with the famous warning, "Put that bloody cigarette out!" fearing the smoke would draw enemy fire. The movement or sound attracted a German sniper, and Munro was killed by a single bullet to the head. His name is inscribed on the…

Hogtied in the Hexagon? understand France part 2 of 3

Hogtied in the Hexagon? understand France Part 2 Our choice of 15 Books to help you better understand France. Part 1 of this article Part 3 of this article First of all what is "hogtied"? To hogtie is an Americanism that goes back to about 1890 literally meaning to tie an animal, in particular a hog, with all four feet together. Figuratively the phrase mean to thwart or hamper. So here is part 2 of our list of 15 books that'll help you feel less bewildered and understand France. What is the Hexagon? The Hexagon is a nickname for France! (due to the mainland's nearly hexagonal shape) Memoirs of Hadrian Marguerite Yourcenar Memoirs of Hadrian is a novel by the Belgian-born French writer Marguerite Yourcenar, the first woman ever elected to the Académie française (1980). It is about the life and death of Roman Emperor Hadrian. The book takes the form of a letter to Hadrian’s cousin and eventual successor «Mark» (Marcus Aurelius). The emperor meditates on militar…

Palais Galliera presents A WARDROBE OF ONE’S OWN Dissident Femininities in the 19th Century

The Palais Galliera, the city of Paris' fashion museum, is presenting an exhibition titled A Wardrobe of One’s Own: Dissident Femininities in the 19th Century until February 2027. The exhibition shines a light on a still little-known phenomenon: the appropriation by nineteenth-century women of the male dress codes of the day. Rosa Bonheur, the painter and inspiration for the name of our Book Shop Bill & Rosa's Book Room was one of the women who had a permit to travestir. (In 19th century France it was interdit for women to wear pants.) For her, dressing in pants was practical especially in the early days when she visited meat packing plants to observe the muscular structure of animals, particularly of cows, one of her favorite painting subjects. To learn more about Rosa see our article A Broad with a Brush. The exhibition boasts a remarkable and previously unseen collection: the wardrobe that once belonged to Rosa Bonheur, shown here in its entirety. A War…

Hogtied in the Hexagon? comprehend France part 1 of 3

Hogtied in the Hexagon? comprehend France Part 1 Our choice of 15 Books to help you better comprehend France. First of all what is "hogtied"? To hogtie is an Americanism that goes back to about 1890 literally meaning to tie an animal, in particular a hog, with all four feet together. Figuratively the phrase means to thwart or hamper. So below is the beginning of our list of 15 books that'll help you feel less bewildered and more comprehend France. What is the Hexagon? The Hexagon is a nickname for France! (due to the mainland's nearly hexagonal shape) Part 2 of this article Part 3 of this article Dictionnaire amoureux de l’Histoire de France Max Gallo Max the historian works the alphabet from A to Z with entries ranging from Alésia to Jean Zay, touching along the way on Bernard de Clairvaux, Dreyfus, François Ier, Gambetta, Geneviève de Gaulle-Anthonioz, Henri IV, les intellectuels, la laïcité, le maquis, Saint Louis and Verdun. When Monsieur Gallo says he lov…

What I read this summer

What I read this summer was about another summer. What’s a summer? A few months. How can just a few months change the world? When it’s 1945 and war is finally declared over the four months of summer that follow are intense and important, like no other summer. Summer of Freedom, How 1945 Changed the World by Oliver Hilmes (The Other Press) is a combining and weaving together of letters, agendas and diaries by several different personalities as well as ordinary people. Hilmes begins by looking at how they were spending their day on May 8, 1945 the day the war in Europe was declared finished. The Russians wait until May 9th when Stalin fired a thousand cannon shots to usher in a new era where the world was free again… or was it? The book goes on to follow through the summer these same people and events all across Europe, as occupiers and occupied, the victors and the vanquished try to sort things out and get the world back to cooperative functioning. The people, soldi…

French literature quiz: 13 extracts

French literature quiz: 13 extracts Identify the French authors of the following 13 French literature extracts. This quiz was first published on page 13 of FUSAC 513 in 2013 - and today is September 13 - hence our theme of 13!

Try this mneomic device (un moyen mnémotechnique) to remember the names of 6 important French authors from the 17th century:

La Corneille, perché sur la Racine de Bruyère, Boileau de La Fontaine, Molière.

Score : 0 – 3 pas terrible / 4 – 6 read on ! - better yet attend Felix Libris Master class next spring / 7 – 10 impressionnant ! / 11 – 13 prix littéraire for you! Extra point : Which author is not French ? Answers on the bottom of page. q 1 - Ah ! Mon Dieu, Madame, que je suis affligée ! Que je suis malheureuse ! Qui me consolera dans mes peines ? Qui me conseillera dans l’embarras où je me trouve ? Ce M. de Valmont... et Danceny! Non, l’idée de Danceny me met au désesp…

Quirky booksellers

Quirky booksellers You’ve probably already heard of Shaun Bythell, the famous Scottish bookseller, author of The Diary of a Bookseller and you’re surely familiar with the names and stories of George Whitman and Sylvia Beach from the famous Shakespeare& Co. in Paris. Let’s have a look at some other eccentrics who have built legendary bookstores around their own passions and interests and who have marked the bookselling business in their own way. We can start with David Ishii, owner of a bookstore in Pioneer Square, Seattle, who died in 2012. He was a fixture in the neighborhood, and his bookstore became a meeting place for writers, his friends, fly fishing amateurs and opera lovers, a public as diverse as David’s interests. He started out by working for The Seattle Times and the Seattle Magazine and when the magazine folded, he rented a space in Pioneer Square- this was his first used books bookstore. He had extensive collections in fly fishing literature, Asian Am…

UNESCO Collection of Representative Works

UNESCO Collection of Representative Works The UNESCO Collection of Representative Works was a UNESCO translation project that was active between 1948 and 2005. It was meant to translate masterpieces of world literature (especially from lesser-known languages) into English, French, Spanish and Arabic or into another less well-known language so that they could be available to the widest audience possible, with the aim of promoting cultural understanding between peoples, educating and stimulating reflection. UNESCO saw books as not merely entertainment, but also as a way to encourage the development of world peace. When the project initially started out, it was confined only to translations from and into Arabic and it expanded little by little to other languages as more countries learned of the project and joined. The project stopped in 2005 when it ran out of funds. Until then, UNESCO funded the translation of about 1400 works from over 80 countries translated from over 100 la…

The Parisian Chapter

Come listen to a chapter of this multi-cast audiobook book and to the author, Janet Skeslien Charles, talking about her experience writing this semi autobiographical novel at Bill & Rosa’s Book Room on June 6th the 82nd Anniversary of D-Day. If you'd like to come please sign up at BRbookroom@gmail.com.

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Library and Miss Morgan’s Book Brigade (stories of librarians in World War II and World War I respectively) comes a charming multi-cast audiobook (we will also have print copies available for the author to sign). The story follows a young woman from Montana who finds a job in the American Library in Paris, following in the footsteps of Odile, her French war bride neighbor in Montana and the heroine of The Paris Library.

Paris, 1995: It’s been five years since Lily Jacobsen and her best friend Mary Louise arrived from their small town of Fr…

Emilien Buffalo Bill Bouglione, RIP 2026

There was a French man named Buffalo Bill whose mother was named Rosa! Yes really! OK, we admit it was his middle name, but Émilien Buffalo Bill Bouglione did exist. In fact he just passed away in March of 2026. His unusual name caused quite a stir when he went to vote and the officials called out “Émilien Buffalo Bill Bouglione a vote!”. So who was Émilien Buffalo Bill Bouglione? The Bouglione clan is the premier circus family of France. Perhaps you are familiar with their posters around Paris or have even been to the show at the Cirque d’Hiver. In the early days they were traveling circus performers. Before they became famous under their own name they tried various marketing strategies to draw crowds. One of them was capitalizing on another famous showman Buffalo Bill. After acquiring surplus posters from the 1905 French tour of Buffalo-Bill’s Wild West, the Bougliones launched the Stade Capitaine Buffalo-Bill in 1924. Despite the fact that their performance was hardly Wes…

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