The patron saint of independent booksellers everywhere and the spunky proprietress of Shakespeare and Company, the famed Left Bank bookshop, Beach was a one-woman clearinghouse for literary modernism, 'a culture hero of the avant-garde,' as Keri Walsh writes in her fine introduction to this collection... Beach was an animated correspondent.
Matthew Price Bookforum Reveal[s] the difficulties faced head on ... Read moreby this patron saint of independent booksellers who altered the course of expression in print. Publishers Weekly Academics and students interested in literary culture, especially of writers of the Lost Generation, will find this book valuable. Library Journal This lovely book, scholarly and well annotated, is a pleasure to hold. It documents what Beach once called 'my missionary endeavor' and also what she called, correctly, her 'interesting life.'
Dwight Garner New York Times The consummate portrait of an incredible woman.
Robert J. Wiersema The Vancouver Sun Keri Walsh has produced a commendable work.
Diane Leach Pop Matters With The Letters of Sylvia Beach... we now have an unvarnished view of life from the bookshop floor.
John Palattella The Nation Keri Walsh's compact and revealing volume introduces Beach as a character's character New Criterion Beach's letters are crisp, detailed, patient, and articulate. Editor Walsh's meticulously orchestrated scholarly apparatus
footnotes, appendices, glossary, and index
all work well to enhance the material.
David Emblidge Publishing Research Quarterly Beach is an entertaining companion, a wonderful person to spend time with... readers...will be quick to celebrate this editorial achievement. Papers of the Bibliographical Society of Canada Show Less