World of the Paris Cafe Sociability Among the French Working Class, 1789-1914

"Nathalie Sarraute, a diva of the post-war French novel, flew into a paddy not long ago when an incautious fellow customer, noticing her writing at her table, asked why she chose to compose her works in a caf. It was, she raged, the first time she had been interrupted in 40 years, each morning of which she had spent writing at that same table. Ms Sarraute notwithstanding, it has to be wondered how much fiction is written in Paris cafs these days by anyone, known or unknown. Whether because there are fewer writers to spot or simply because they are becoming less fun, Paris cafs, it seems, are in decline. Cafs evidently are no more places of fun to Scott Haine than they are to Ms Sarraute. His academic study of their place in French social history is worthwhile and in places even interesting, though never likely to return zip to caf life."Haine, W. Scott is the author of 'World of the Paris Cafe Sociability Among the French Working Class, 1789-1914', published 1998 under ISBN 9780801860706 and ISBN 0801860709.