That quintessential Parisian establishment, the sidewalk cafe, figures prominently in the city's cultural life. For centuries, native-born and expatriate writer

For centuries Paris was the destination of writers from the provinces and from across the ocean, and the city swiftly became an integral part of the lives and w

The cafe is not only a place to enjoy a cup of coffee, it is also a space - distinct from its urban environment - in which to reflect and take part in intellect

In The World of the Paris Café, W. Scott Haine investigates what the working-class café reveals about the formation of urban life in nineteenth-century France

By Georges Perec.