The French, as usual, insist on being different. As independent bookstores crash and burn in the United States and Britain, the book market in France is doing just fine. France boasts 2,500 bookstores, and for every neighborhood bookstore that closes, another seems to open. From 2003 to 2011 book sales in France increased by 6.5 percent.
E-books account for only 1.8 percent of the general consumer publishing market here, compared with 6.4 percent in the United States. The French have a centuries-old reverence for the printed page.
“There are two things you don’t throw out in France ”” bread and books,” said Bernard Fixot, owner and publisher of XO, a small publishing house dedicated to churning out best sellers. “In Germany the most important creative social status is given to the musician. In Italy it’s the painter. Who’s the most important creator in France? It’s the writer.”
Vive le livre! Vive la France!
Say what you like, they just get some things completely right.
driver8 – depends upon WHAT they’re reading.
How much of the turn away from real books in this country is caused by promotions and advertising strategies. On top of that radical environmentalists never stop talking about the number of trees felled to make a book. For once, in my opinion, the French have it right. If, as midwestnorwegian observed, they are reading anything beyond garbage).
Wow! I think I just found something highly admirable about France. Reading this almost makes me wish I had just enough money where I could live a bohemian lifestyle in Paris. Maybe rent a shabby studio apartment in Montmartre decorated in early Salvation Army and cluttered with piles of books.