A Literary Feast

F Scott Fitzgerald...

 

Once drew a picture of the party in Paris (arranged by Sylvia Beach) at which he met his hero, James Joyce.

"Sylvia Beach hosted a dinner party in order that F. Scott Fitzgerald, who worshipped James Joyce, but was afraid to approach him, might do so. Out of nervousness or champagne, Fitzgerald greeted his hero by dropping down on one knee, kissing his hand, and declaring, How does it feel to be a great genius, Sir? I am so excited at seeing you, Sir,that I could weep."

 

But imagine if he’d invited other English language writers living in Paris (I'm not going to be strict about dates here).

 

Turns out James Joyce played the piano, which would have been useful for entertainment...

...and he might have brought along his friend, Ezra Pound who might sing a seasonal song:

Winter is icumin in
Lhude sing Goddamn,
Raineth drop and staineth slop,
And how the wind doth ramm!
Sing; Goddamn.
Skiddeth bus and sloppeth us,
An ague hath my ham
Damn you, Sing, Goddamn.
Goddamn, Goddamn, 'tis why I am,
So 'gainst the winter's balm.
Sing goddamn, damn, sing goddamn,
Sing goddamn, sing goddamn, DAMN!

(E Pound)

 

Jean Rhys knew all about what to drink...

... as did E Hemingway’s, whose  cat seems to have been fond of white wine.

 

 

 Edith Wharton scrubbed up rather well and was fond of high-end gatherings...

...as was Ford Maddox Ford

Anais Nin preferred fancy-dress parties

 

 

 ... or at the very least a dramatic tenue

...as did Janet Flanner

...and Djuna Barnes.

Allen Ginsberg was likely to wear even less conventional costumes (this photo was taken at his 39^th birthday party).

(Barry Miles recalls Ginsberg getting very drunk, stripping off
completely, putting his underpants on his head and hanging a ‘do not disturb’ sign to his penis.)

 

William S Burroughs, by contrast, seemed reluctant to take off his hat even indoors.

James Baldwin would just turn up and look elegant...

 ...as would Henry Miller

Of course Sylvia Beach would be on hand, making sure everything went smoothly:

Assisted by her girlfriend and fellow-bookseller, Adrienne Monnier

 

 As well as current owners, George and Sylvia Whitman

And their team.

Why am I telling you all this? Sylvia Whitman of Shakespeare and Company has commissioned me to draw a Christmas window at the bookshop, based on F Scott Fitzgerald’s sketch. Here's my (very) rough sketch of a Literary Feast:

 

I’ll be trying to translate all this onto the bookshop windows of Shakespeare and Company from Friday 3^rd December.

Please come along and watch. I’ll be there all day on Friday 2nd, Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th December. I'll knock off each day when it gets dark and I'll be posting the results.

Shakespeare and Company, 37 Rue Bûcherie, 75005 Paris, France

01 43 25 40 93

Metro St Michel

Comments

[kate mckinnon]

Excellent!

[DBC Reed]

Many thanks for the gallery of portraits.This is what the blogosphere should be for!Never realised Djuna Barnes was quite so stately or that Edith Wharton was quite that stately.
Since there is a bottle of ordinary -looking Chianti on Hemingway's table,it may be the cat is drinking the water they've got to wash it down.Strange that Hemingway anthropomorphised cats as at the end of Farewell to Arms then spent a lot of time shooting big ones.Or is it strange ?Perhaps he was rehearsing.

[ManOfLaBook]

What a wonderful blog post. The gallery is amazing. I'm an amateur woodworker as well as a book blogger and had the idea of creating author portraits in wood.

http:/www.ManOfLaBook.com