Paris Café: The Select Crowd

by Noël Riley Fitch, Rick Tulka (Illustrations)

Acclaimed author Noël Riley Fitch, abetted by noted artist Rick Tulka, serves the dish on Select, the famous Montparnasse café that for nearly nine decades has been so vital to Paris and its intellectual denizens: from Hemingway, Beauvoir, Picasso, James Baldwin, and George Plimpton to the writers and artists who continue to work quietly there in the back room or heatedly debate every topic imaginable into the night. The artists have their work on the walls; the novelists include the café setting in their fiction. The quiet and drama of the Sélect world illustrates the centrality of cafés — particularly this one — to Parisian social, cultural, and intellectual life. Blending pithy profiles and witty drawings of clientele and staff, the book is organized around a history of the café, its daily and seasonal rhythms, particular colorful patrons, and even its typical café/brasserie food (including a few recipes).

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Travel, France, History

128 pages, Paperback

First published November 28, 2007

About the author

Noël Riley Fitch is a biographer and historian of expatriate intellectuals in Paris in the first half of the 20th century. Every book Fitch has written has some connection with Paris and the artists who lived and worked there, including her biographies of Sylvia Beach, Anaïs Nin, and Julia Child.

In June 2011 Noël was awarded the prestigious Prix de la Tour Montparnasse literary award in France for the French translation of hers widely acclaimed 1983 book ‘Sylvia Beach and the Lost Generation’. Her book Appetite for Life The Biography of Julia Child was written with Mrs. Child’s full cooperation and exclusive authorization. Publishers Weekly said the book is written 'warmly and compellingly’, and Kirkus Reviews called its details “exquisite” and the story “exhaustively researched, and charming.” Entertainment Weekly also named it number five of the ten best books of the year.

Noël recently retired from teaching writing and literature courses for the University of Southern California and the American University in Paris. She lives with her husband in Los Angeles, Paris, and New York City.

Reviews

[Jordy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved reading about the cafe that Hemingway used to frequent. And I believe is the cafe in Midnights in Paris one of my fave movies.
Love the chapter about the regulars bc the succession of pictures made it seem like I was there , people watching.
Oh how I long to visit one day..

[Pranjal Awasthi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book makes me crave for nice artwork once again, The book is a vivid description of Parisian cafes, especially Le Select with its eclectic crowd of "Habitués". Showcasing a clientele ranging from a labourer working on Montparnasse to Sartre pondering over a cup of coffee, Paris cafes were the veins through which the city's intellectual blood flowed. As a perennial cafe hopper forced to sit at home due to covid, this book reminded me of the sublime comfort a good cafe gives its people. This book would surely be with me when I visit Paris.

[Ann Pearlman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book on my fav cafe in Paris... spent many happy evenings there talking late into the night... and yes I have included it in my writing... Loved the drawings....

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

The perfect way to get ready for a trip to Paris. I felt like I was sitting in the cafe. Great drawings of cafe life.

[Annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The illustrations by Rick Tulka are what make this book. They are expressive and amazing. The author had four typos that I could count, and was often redundant--however, Fitch set an interesting tone for the book that's difficult to describe. Perhaps it reflects its topic, the cafe; laid back, random, not altogether cohesive or fluid, but fun and inspiring.

[Tattered Cover Book Store]

Jeff says:

This a fun and vibrant sketch of a PLACE where people GATHER.

[Danie P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this short informative book about the Select Cafe on Montparsse in Paris. Nothing phenomenal just a cozy book describing the daily comings and goings of this famous cafe.

[John Marr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Makes you want to move to Paris immediately