Shakespeare and Company Summary and Analysis

"In those days there was no money to buy books," Hemingway writes (p. 35). For reading material, he goes to Shakespeare and Company, a library and bookstore owned by Sylvia Beach, a friendly American woman. The shop has a warm stove, shelves of books, and the walls are decorated with photographs of authors. Beach herself is very kind to Hemingway. "No one I ever knew was nicer to me," he writes (p.35).

When Hemingway first enters the store, he is shy and does not have the fee to join the lending library. Beach tells him not to worry and to pay when he can. He chooses a number of books, telling her he has money at his apartment and will pay the next time he comes in.

Hemingway knows that James Joyce is a regular visitor to the...