Bookstores in the Age of COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic is about to reach an important milestone: almost an entire year on our rock. It has been devastating. Death, long-term disability for survivors, separation, loss of income and severe financial instability. 

As countries reopened, some businesses struggled to adapt to social distancing guidelines, while others weren’t able to sustain their income losses without foot-traffic. As we’re heading into the long, dark winter, I read an update about the Shakespeare & Company bookstore in Paris. The history of this legendary bookstore fills the hearts of budding novelists with the yearning for a simpler time, where one could live as a learning, experiencing, wanting-writer in a world that wasn’t entirely devoted to the propulsion of capitalism. 

I placed an order through Shakespeare & Company, and receiving the payment confirmation email (entirely in French that my 64-day streak on Duolingo could not decipher), I felt like I was on the precipice of a good idea. 

Once a month, from now until the post-COVID world doesn’t threaten all of our illusions, I will try to make one purchase from a bookstore. This month is for a famed Parisian bookstore – next month, who knows?