jeremy mercer: the book tour

Time Was Soft There tells the story of a crime reporter who flees to France after a threat from a gang source. In Paris, he discovers the wondrous world of Shakespeare and Company and is invited to live among the creaking shelves of this revered bookstore. During his five months under the wing of the store's quixotic 89-year-old owner, the author experiences adventure, mystery and ultimately redemption.

The book has been renamed Books, Baguettes & Bedbugs for the British market, where, in a most gratifying turn of events, the hardcover has gone into third printing. This makes one reconsider one's aversion to alliteration.

In the spring of 2006, the hardcover was released in Australia. In the fall of 2006, paperback editions of the book were released in both American and England

The Reviews

(Including: The New Yorker, The Independent, Bloomberg, the Globe and Mail ....)

“Mercer is a fine writer with a keen and jaundiced eye.” -- The Chicago Tribune

“An unforgettable memoir .” --OK! Magazine

“Like the shop itself, Books, Baguettes and Bedbugs preserves the optimism of youthful ideals and perpetuates the sweet dream that any man can create - in words, if not in reality - a better world.” -- The Sunday Telegraph

'This isn't a book you merely read, it is a book you can live in for a while.' -- The Globe and Mail

“A tightly written, insightful memoir of Left Bank literary radicalism. A great read, both funny and quietly moving.” -- The San Francisco Chronicle

“.His memoir reads like a fast-paced novel, driven by the tragicomic adventures of the shop's struggling inhabitants ...” -- Newsweek

'Tender, disenchanted, self-castigating and bittersweet, Books, Baguettes and Bedbugs is a book that is consistently surprising.' -- The Independent

And: The Palm Beach Post has named Time Was Soft There one of the Top 6 books of 2005, along with the likes of Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking and Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Memories of My Melancholy Whores

***Read The Full Reviews***

The Documentary

Two French filmmakers spent hundreds of hours at the bookstore and put together and amazing documentary movie about the bookstore. Many of the characters from Time Was Soft There can be seen, including the author himself. Learn more *here*

The Tour, The Blog

To mark the release of Time Was Soft There, in the fall of 2005, the author visited 23 independent bookstores across North America over the span of 44 days. Pure and utter madness.

The tour schedule can be seen: *here*

The diary - The Incredble Book Journey Blog - can be read *here*

Film Rights

Though there have been several inquiries, thus far the film rights have not been sold. However, a British film company has offered me a small sum of money for my life story which they would like to knit into their telling of the Shakespeare and Company story. My agent is skeptical. I am poor. We shall see.

Contact

As always: jeremy@kilometerzero.org