Kets - better living

Tucked on a street in the oldest part of the Austrian capital, called the Ruprechtsviertel, is Shakespeare & Company, a local independent English book store. Shakespeare& Company is the only bookshop in Vienna devoted solely to books in English, with more than 10 000 contemporary and classic titles, from various English-speaking countries. Once a year, during the month of August, the bookstore organizes a book exhibition at the InternationalWittgenstein Symposium, in lower Austria.

I was surprised to find out that although the bookstore shares the same name as the one in Paris, they’re not associated with one another - there are no direct links with the notorious Shakespeare & Co in Paris, however, it does share the same ideals and philosophy to Sylvia Beach (an American Expat from New Jersey) and her famous bookshop (1919 - 1941) in Paris. Great figures of Anglo-American literary scene like James Joyce, Ernest Hemingway, Francis Scott Fitzgerald, Ezra Pound or Gertrude Stein belonged to its regular visitors and the place became Paris' best known Anglo-American cultural and literary hangout.

The selection of books at the Shakespeare & Company in Vienna is divided into numerous sections (some of them with great names such as 'funky literature'). There’s a wide range of English language books and magazines on numerous subjects from around the world, ranging from Classical & Contemporary Literature, Poetry, Plays, Science-Fiction & Crime, Graphic Novels, translated books by Austrian writers, Religion, Arts and Culture, Music, Theater & Film, Architecture, Design, Photography, Fashion, Cooking & Living and children’s books. Also available are academic books on Philosophy, Science, History, Current Affairs, Politics, Economy, Psychology and Cultural Studies.

Shakespeare & Company sometimes hosts lively debates and discussions exploring popular and classical culture through a modern and global lens. About five times a year, they also hold events to introduce collected works, books and thoughts of authors living or passing by through Vienna.

The space reflects its belief in the power of literature and the humanities to increase understanding and friendship across borders, and in the power of books as a common good for a better world.

Shakespeare & Company
Sterngasse 2 /1010 Vienna
www.shakespeare.co.at / booksellers@shakespeare.co.at
00 43 1 535 50 53
Hours: Mon-Sat 9-21