It’s such a long time since I pencilled into my diary my reading at the famous Shakespeare & Company bookshop that I almost forgot about it, to be honest. But it’s crept up on me, and I’ve just realised it is going ahead on the very day upon which Manuel and I will be signing for our new place (there goes my plan to ‘christen’ every corner of the new apartment on signing day…)
So, if you happen to be in Paris on Monday 28 July and free from 7-9pm, do come along and say hello. I’ll be reading from ‘petite’, answering questions, signing books, giving away a few goodies and who knows, maybe we can retire to a nearby café afterwards for a drink or two…
Now, back to my furniture porn.
about
books
press
fbk
petite anglaise 
Okay, that is some seriously funny porn!
Comment by Caffienated Cowgirl — July 16, 2008 @ 1:43 pm
Well I am almost finished with your book and I am really enjoying it. I look forward to your next book!! The furniture porn OMFG I was LAMO!! Just what I needed after getting my second cup of coffee, a good laugh to wake up.
Dave
Washington D.C.
Comment by Dave — July 16, 2008 @ 2:05 pm
Oh, I’m sure you’ll find time for the christening, with or without the reading.
Good luck (on the reading)! When are you going to tour the US now?
Comment by Jenny — July 16, 2008 @ 2:18 pm
Congrats on the new place…can’t wait to see the pictures :)
Comment by cheri — July 16, 2008 @ 3:32 pm
Yay! I can’t believe my luck that I happen to be travelling right now, and am in Lyon, and will be moving on at the end of the month… I may have to go via Paris! :)
And on that note… anyone know where a girl on a serious budget might find somewhere cheap to stay in Paris on the 28th?
Comment by Hails — July 16, 2008 @ 4:21 pm
That explains bedsit land and how pouffes are made ……….
Comment by Daddy Papersurfer — July 16, 2008 @ 4:55 pm
Poor kitty…
Comment by Marjolein — July 16, 2008 @ 5:44 pm
Ahhhh furniture porn!
Hails: try the hotel marignan in the 5th. It’s like a hostel but for people who are told old to stay in hostels :) I stayed there for a few weeks while doing research for my Ph.D. dissertation. http://www.hotel-marignan.com/
Kat
Comment by Kathleen — July 16, 2008 @ 6:48 pm
Hmmm I might pop in… some shoes to buy in a shop nearby… I won’t have your book (already finished and lent) but I might say hi from Vonric ;-)
Comment by Vonric — July 16, 2008 @ 7:04 pm
Oh. My. God. Equal parts disturbing and hysterical.
Don’t tell CPS, but my four-year old was (unbeknownst to me) watching over my shoulder while that was playing. He scared the bejeezus out of me by asking, “Why are the chairs wrestling?”
Starting the Therapy Fund today…
Comment by Astrogirl — July 16, 2008 @ 8:36 pm
i will maybe come too…i was just there for the Marjane Satrapi Q&A and it was awesome!
Comment by marie — July 16, 2008 @ 9:20 pm
Furniture porn is personification gone freaky uber wild. Whoa, I think it got me a little flushed. I’m a big fan of yours, of Paris and Shakespeare and Company and would love to hear you, meet you and hang out a bit. Alas, last minute flights to Paris from San Francisco are affordable only for those whose occupations are either literally or figuratively illict and sadly, I fall into neither of those catagories. To Hails, I’ve styed at the Hotel Esmerelda just around the corner, across from St Julien de Pauvre.. funky cool and not too cher.. A teeny room for ~70 euro,last I checked
Comment by sheba — July 17, 2008 @ 5:28 am
Furniture porn, well well well! I guess anything’s on the net. I do hope you are not finding it too much of a diversion from writing your new book!! I mean, how long has a girl go to wait! Now get back to work Petite, you have been sternly ticked off!!
:) :)
Comment by scribble — July 17, 2008 @ 11:17 am
I have dabbled in furniture porn, mostly in actual shops rather than online, but I prefer food porn in the form of reading the M&S and Waitrose party food catalogues. The whole ‘wanting what I can’t have’ is a thrill in itself and as for the displays of smoked salmon…
Good luck on your reading. Sadly for me I don’t live in Paris these days so won’t be in attendance. I read the book over the weekend and enjoyed it very much.
xx
Comment by Hollinda — July 17, 2008 @ 11:38 am
What a lovely place to do a reading! One of my all time favourie bookstores.
Comment by Nicole — July 17, 2008 @ 1:30 pm
it never rains but it pours! I’m sure it will be a doubly good day in that case, and as you’ll have the rest of your lives together and the next few in the new place i’m sure that there will be plenty of time for christening! :)
Comment by dubnat — July 17, 2008 @ 3:38 pm
do you have to buy a ticket for this reading? why not going to paris….it’s just 600 km away!
Comment by charlotte — July 17, 2008 @ 6:27 pm
Hails, do couchsurfing! I’m a member, it’s changed my life (I’m a French woman in London). I’ve travelling much more since I’m a member of http://www.couchsurfing.com and I’ve had great life/travelling/human experiences. I’m just back from Montreal surfing 3 different couches.
Comment by Sophie — July 18, 2008 @ 12:10 am
Ok, JUST watched the clip. I’ve never laughed so hard at armchairs before. Glad I didn’t try to watch that at work!
Comment by Jenny — July 18, 2008 @ 12:52 am
I finally managed to obtain a copy of your book here in the States. I enjoyed reading it, and look forward to your novel.
Comment by Elle — July 18, 2008 @ 2:56 am
I think no tickets are required, S&Co is very laid back and their website certainly makes no mention of signing up etc… Would check for you, but am off on a four day weekend trip with my husband (he he, that still feels weird)
Comment by petite — July 18, 2008 @ 4:32 am
I’ve just finished “Petite Anglaise” having picked it up in a bookshop in FNQ (far north Queensland), Australia. The cover caught my attention, I love anything Parisienne. Wow, a great read, a great book, absolutely loved it and now here I am commenting on your blog. I can’t wait to trawl back through the blogs to read them for real. Imagine though my disappointment to see there is a new man and not a renewed fanfare for Mr Frog, I had hoped you’d somehow find a way through, alas, I await book #2.
Comment by Angel from afar — July 18, 2008 @ 9:05 am
@18 – thanks Sophie! I got a couch to sleep on so having a little detour to Paris. Get to see my dream city and my favourite blogger both at the same time. Looking forward to it! :)
Comment by Hails — July 18, 2008 @ 3:19 pm
It is best I find to christen places in your apartment about 30 seconds before you’re about to leave the door.
When you’re late, now everyone will know ;)
BG
Comment by Billygean — July 18, 2008 @ 4:23 pm
Just finished your book. Great read. Best of luck with it. :)
Comment by sarahamelia — July 18, 2008 @ 4:34 pm
Awww man I just left Paris on Monday — I wish I was going to be there but I’m back in the states. :) I hope to come back in September though, so maybe you’ll be signing something then. :)
Comment by Erika — July 18, 2008 @ 5:47 pm
Damn, I will miss this by 3 days!
Petite, do you know of any good Thai restaurants in the Belleville area? I am seriously craving thai food – it is so much more plentiful in Sydney!
Comment by Petite Australienne — July 18, 2008 @ 5:55 pm
Re: shakespeare & co
My favorite bookstores are – The Strand (NYC), City Lights (SF), and Powell’s Books (Portland, OR). – Z
Comment by Zooey — July 18, 2008 @ 7:20 pm
Am at work (a librarian), and the web filter on our computers has blocked the furniture porn site. (An example of why web filters don’t work.)
I’m only 70 pages in, but I’m loving your book. In addition to the fabulous living-in-another-country premise, when Robert Smith made an appearance on page 6, I knew I was going to love it.
Comment by Lisa — July 18, 2008 @ 9:10 pm
I really liked reading your book. I think it was just displayed that day in the bookshop. I looked at the book and bought it!I even told my collegues to read it … One is reading it right now!
Hope she likes it as much as I did.
To bad for 28th July I can’t be there, I was just in Paris for a few days. :-(
Comment by Jools — July 19, 2008 @ 10:31 am
No, you can see petite that people are coming here for your writing (low comments) not for youtube videos, which I liked by the way.
Comment by pchenge — July 19, 2008 @ 11:50 am
Pooh I can’t get into the Furniture Porn URL and I won’t be in Paris on 28 July so I’m feeling I don’t belong to the club! :-)
My copy of Petite Anglaise was returned to me from its trip to France and it’s pretty obvious it’s been near suntan lotion and the pool! I’m going to read it again.
Comment by ookymooky — July 19, 2008 @ 1:14 pm
I’m in Paris only in the am, otherwise, I’d stop by
Congratulations on the book and the new place
Comment by Vika — July 20, 2008 @ 1:37 am
I soooo… wish I could come to the Shakespeare Bookshop.
Aux Trois Maillets around the corner is a fantastic place for your after signing drinks.
Wish I could go there too!
Hope your signing is a great success.
Comment by lex — July 20, 2008 @ 4:26 pm
Greetings Petite, I wish I could be there in Paris on the day of your reading, sounds like it will be a fun group. Hope you have a great weekend trip with your husband. As the monster in “Avenue Q” would say The Internet is for Porn, and I guess that includes furniture as well (porn for the masses). Have a good week ahead….
Comment by JenniferfromUS — July 21, 2008 @ 1:34 pm
OK, so two pieces of advice please – how to end up living in paris and how to meet a man as gorgeous as yours!!! Love your work and wish I could be there to support you.
Comment by Tiff — July 21, 2008 @ 5:01 pm
Hope the reading went well and you had a good turnout. You are very brave to read your own stuff! Would love to have been able to come, another time maybe. Please post about it!
Comment by scribble — July 21, 2008 @ 6:30 pm
Come to the US! If you could make it to Los Angeles I’d be at your signing!
Comment by desireenb — July 21, 2008 @ 10:34 pm
I would have loved to hear you read at Shakespeare & co, but I won’t be around. Oh well. I read your book on a flight to Qatar (surprised it wasn’t confiscated at the airport). It’s proof of a great read if a book can distract me from stressing about turbulence.
As for furniture porn, I don’t know what naughtiness a chair can get up to, but Qatar Telecom has blocked the site!
Comment by dongurigal — July 22, 2008 @ 4:57 am
The best Thai restaurant in Belleville is Krung Thep on rue Julien Lacroix. Reservation recommended. They may close for a few weeks over the summer holiday, however.
Comment by petite — July 22, 2008 @ 9:00 am
Been an avid fan of yours since reading about your court case in the British press. Sent my Dad a copy of your book and he said it was as if somebody had written my autobiography for me! Needless to say there are more than a few parallels… Just met a v. nice guy through a dating site too, so who knows?! Am coming over to Paris from Strasbourg for your reading, so if there is any way of guaranteeing a place at the reading, I’d be very grateful if you could post details. Really looking forward to seeing you.
Comment by petitebête — July 22, 2008 @ 10:01 am
Ooh, great news- I’ll definitely try and pop in – good luck with the house move!
Comment by Marianne — July 22, 2008 @ 10:46 pm
I was in Paris on Friday, and I visited S&Co., I love it – an aladdin’s cave for book lovers. What I shame I had to come back to the UK yesterday, otherwise I would definitely have been at your reading!
Comment by Nicole — July 27, 2008 @ 2:12 pm
It was nice hearing you read and meeting you at Shakespeare & Co. Thanks for signing my computer! :-)
Comment by Kai Carver — July 28, 2008 @ 8:35 pm
Very nice meeting you…unfortunately short, too short (and too hot) and I apologise, but I did not feel very comfortable blocking the long queue of admirers waiting for signatures :-)
It happened that I should have bought shoes in a shop nearby … but discovered that they’ve just shut for summer :-( , and friends were waiting for me for dinner… a shame as I could have enjoyed a drink after your “séance de dédicaces”. At least you had a chance to put a face on a nickname.
So again, congrats for your book (albeit being a bit too intimate for me… like to unveil a bit of privacy for someone who knows you through your blog) and looking forward to the fiction. At least I can say that I had some tiny involvement in spreading the book in London ;-)
Comment by Vonric — July 28, 2008 @ 11:32 pm
Can’t say I’ve ever been to that particular bookstore, but it’s making me want to pack up and go.
Comment by Rocket French Jason — September 3, 2008 @ 4:56 pm