Noël Riley Fitch
Encyclopedia
Noël Riley Fitch is a biographer and historian of expatriate intellectuals in Paris in the first half of the 20th century. She is the author of several books on Paris
(Literary Cafes of Paris, Walks in Hemingway’s Paris) as well as three biographies: Sylvia Beach and the Lost Generation (1983), translated into Japanese, Spanish, German, Italian and French; Anaïs: The Erotic Life of Anaïs Nin
(1993), published in French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and Polish, and nominated for the Grand Prix des Lectrices de Elle; and she is the first authorized biographer of Julia Child - Appetite for Life: the Biography of Julia Child (1997). The Ernest Hemingway
book, a biographical and geographical study of his Paris years, has been published in Dutch, the Cafés of Paris book in Dutch and German.
Fitch was born in 1937 in New Haven, Connecticut
of New England parents (John E. Riley and Dorcas Tarr) and raised with two younger sisters in the Snake River Valley in Idaho
. She has lived in Quincy, Massachusetts
; in Pasadena
, La Jolla and Los Angeles
, California
; and in Paris
, France. Her writing career began when she was a columnist for her high school and college school papers; but it was in graduate school that she discovered the story of Sylvia Beach’s bookshop on the Left Bank of Paris and decided she would tell the story of Sylvia Beach
, her bookshop Shakespeare and Company (1919–1942), and the publication of James Joyce
’s Ulysses (the 1922 novel that would change world fiction). Since then every book Fitch has written has some connection with Paris and the artists who lived and worked there, including her biographies of Beach, Nin, and Child. In June 2011 Noel Riley Fitch was awarded the prestigious Prix de la Tour Montparnasse literary award in France for her book "Sylvia Beach: Une americaine `a Paris" [Perrin Publishers 2011], the french translation by Elizabeth Danger of Noel's widely acclaimed 1983 book "Sylvia Beach and the Lost Generation"
Her book Appetite for Life: The Biography of Julia Child (1997) was written with Mrs. Child’s full cooperation and exclusive authorization. Publishers Weekly
said the book is written 'warmly and compellingly.' Kirkus Reviews
called its “details. . .exquisite” and the story “exhaustively researched, charming.” Entertainment Weekly
named it number five of the ten best books of the year.
Following her earlier Literary Cafés of Paris, Fitch returned to the travel genre to author The Grand Literary Cafés of Europe (London, 2006; US, 2007). Covering the history of coffee and the coffeehouse, the book features nearly 40 cafes in 20 countries, from London to Moscow, Lisbon to Bucharest and Rome. Paris Café; The Sélect Crowd, co-authored with illustrator Rick Tulka
, was published November 2007.
Fitch appears in several documentary films, including Portrait of a Bookstore as an Old Man
, Berenice Abbott
: A View of the Twentieth Century (1992) and the A&E Biography of Julia Child
first shown October 14, 1997 and based on her book, Appetite for Life.
Fitch earned a Ph.D. from Washington State University
and has taught at Point Loma Nazarene University, San Diego State University, University of Southern California, and the American University of Paris. She is presently writing the story of the Irish woman Louison O’Morphi [Marie Louise O’Murphy], mistress of Louis XV, model for Rococo painter François Boucher, and subject of a chapter in Giacomo Casanova
’s memoirs. The book has grown out of many years of Franco-Irish history.
Ms. Fitch recently retired from lecturing at both the University of Southern California
and the American University of Paris. She and her husband live in Los Angeles, Paris, and New York City. She has one grown daughter.
Who’s Who in the West & Who’s Who in Calif
Who’s Who of American Women
Who’s Who in the World
The Authors Guild (The Authors League of America)
Directory of American Scholars
Contemporary Authors
Who’s Who Historical Society
Directory of Women in American Studies
Usc.edu
Books
1. Sylvia Beach & the Lost Generation: A History of Literary Paris in the Twenties & Thirties
ISBN #0-393-30231-8
2. Anaïs: The Erotic Life of Anaïs Nin
Little Brown
ISBN #0-316-28431-9
3. Walks in Hemingway’s
ISBN #0-312-07113-2
4. Literary Cafés of Paris
ISBN#0-913515-42-6
5. Appetite for Life: The Biography of Julia Child
Doubleday
ISBN# 0-385-49335-5
6. Literary Cafés of Paris
River City Publications. New Edition. Oct. 2005
7. The Grand Literary Cafés of Europe
London: New Holland Publishing, Sep. 2006, USA/Canada, spring 2007
ISBN #1845371143
8. Paris Café: the Sélect Crowd
NY: Soft Skull Press, 2007
9. Sylvia Beach: Sylvia Beach: Une americaine `a Paris
Paris: Perrin. Trans. Elisabeth Danger 2011;French Translation
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
(Literary Cafes of Paris, Walks in Hemingway’s Paris) as well as three biographies: Sylvia Beach and the Lost Generation (1983), translated into Japanese, Spanish, German, Italian and French; Anaïs: The Erotic Life of Anaïs Nin
Anaïs Nin
Anaïs Nin was a French-Cuban author, based at first in France and later in the United States, who published her journals, which span more than 60 years, beginning when she was 11 years old and ending shortly before her death, her erotic literature, and short stories...
(1993), published in French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and Polish, and nominated for the Grand Prix des Lectrices de Elle; and she is the first authorized biographer of Julia Child - Appetite for Life: the Biography of Julia Child (1997). The Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
book, a biographical and geographical study of his Paris years, has been published in Dutch, the Cafés of Paris book in Dutch and German.
Fitch was born in 1937 in New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
of New England parents (John E. Riley and Dorcas Tarr) and raised with two younger sisters in the Snake River Valley in Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
. She has lived in Quincy, Massachusetts
Quincy, Massachusetts
Quincy is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Its nicknames are "City of Presidents", "City of Legends", and "Birthplace of the American Dream". As a major part of Metropolitan Boston, Quincy is a member of Boston's Inner Core Committee for the Metropolitan Area Planning Council...
; in Pasadena
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
, La Jolla and Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
; and in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France. Her writing career began when she was a columnist for her high school and college school papers; but it was in graduate school that she discovered the story of Sylvia Beach’s bookshop on the Left Bank of Paris and decided she would tell the story of Sylvia Beach
Sylvia Beach
Sylvia Beach , born Nancy Woodbridge Beach, was an American-born bookseller and publisher who lived most of her life in Paris, where she was one of the leading expatriate figures between World War I and II.-Early life:...
, her bookshop Shakespeare and Company (1919–1942), and the publication of James Joyce
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...
’s Ulysses (the 1922 novel that would change world fiction). Since then every book Fitch has written has some connection with Paris and the artists who lived and worked there, including her biographies of Beach, Nin, and Child. In June 2011 Noel Riley Fitch was awarded the prestigious Prix de la Tour Montparnasse literary award in France for her book "Sylvia Beach: Une americaine `a Paris" [Perrin Publishers 2011], the french translation by Elizabeth Danger of Noel's widely acclaimed 1983 book "Sylvia Beach and the Lost Generation"
Her book Appetite for Life: The Biography of Julia Child (1997) was written with Mrs. Child’s full cooperation and exclusive authorization. Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
said the book is written 'warmly and compellingly.' Kirkus Reviews
Kirkus Reviews
Kirkus Reviews is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus . Kirkus serves the book and literary trade sector, including libraries, publishers, literary and film agents, film and TV producers and booksellers. Kirkus Reviews is published on the first and 15th of each month...
called its “details. . .exquisite” and the story “exhaustively researched, charming.” Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
named it number five of the ten best books of the year.
Following her earlier Literary Cafés of Paris, Fitch returned to the travel genre to author The Grand Literary Cafés of Europe (London, 2006; US, 2007). Covering the history of coffee and the coffeehouse, the book features nearly 40 cafes in 20 countries, from London to Moscow, Lisbon to Bucharest and Rome. Paris Café; The Sélect Crowd, co-authored with illustrator Rick Tulka
Rick Tulka
Rick Tulka is an illustrator and caricaturist who has appeared in MAD Magazine since 1988.In 2007, he was featured on the CBS Sunday Morning show in conjunction with the release of the book he co-authored with Noël Riley Fitch, "Paris Café: The Sélect Crowd"...
, was published November 2007.
Fitch appears in several documentary films, including Portrait of a Bookstore as an Old Man
Portrait of a Bookstore as an Old Man
Portrait of a Bookstore as an Old Man is a 2005 documentary film directed by Benjamin Sutherl and Gonzague Pichelin. about George Whitman who opened a bookshop-commune in Paris in 1951 called Shakespeare and Company.-External links:*...
, Berenice Abbott
Berenice Abbott
Berenice Abbott , born Bernice Abbott, was an American photographer best known for her black-and-white photography of New York City architecture and urban design of the 1930s.-Youth:...
: A View of the Twentieth Century (1992) and the A&E Biography of Julia Child
Julia Child
Julia Child was an American chef, author, and television personality. She is recognized for introducing French cuisine to the American public with her debut cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and her subsequent television programs, the most notable of which was The French Chef, which...
first shown October 14, 1997 and based on her book, Appetite for Life.
Fitch earned a Ph.D. from Washington State University
Washington State University
Washington State University is a public research university based in Pullman, Washington, in the Palouse region of the Pacific Northwest. Founded in 1890, WSU is the state's original and largest land-grant university...
and has taught at Point Loma Nazarene University, San Diego State University, University of Southern California, and the American University of Paris. She is presently writing the story of the Irish woman Louison O’Morphi [Marie Louise O’Murphy], mistress of Louis XV, model for Rococo painter François Boucher, and subject of a chapter in Giacomo Casanova
Giacomo Casanova
Giacomo Girolamo Casanova de Seingalt was an Italian adventurer and author from the Republic of Venice. His autobiography, Histoire de ma vie , is regarded as one of the most authentic sources of the customs and norms of European social life during the 18th century...
’s memoirs. The book has grown out of many years of Franco-Irish history.
Ms. Fitch recently retired from lecturing at both the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
and the American University of Paris. She and her husband live in Los Angeles, Paris, and New York City. She has one grown daughter.
Biographical sources
International Authors & Writers Who’s WhoWho’s Who in the West & Who’s Who in Calif
Who’s Who of American Women
Who’s Who in the World
The Authors Guild (The Authors League of America)
Directory of American Scholars
Contemporary Authors
Who’s Who Historical Society
Directory of Women in American Studies
Usc.edu
Books
1. Sylvia Beach & the Lost Generation: A History of Literary Paris in the Twenties & Thirties
ISBN #0-393-30231-8
2. Anaïs: The Erotic Life of Anaïs Nin
Little Brown
ISBN #0-316-28431-9
3. Walks in Hemingway’s
ISBN #0-312-07113-2
4. Literary Cafés of Paris
ISBN#0-913515-42-6
5. Appetite for Life: The Biography of Julia Child
Doubleday
ISBN# 0-385-49335-5
6. Literary Cafés of Paris
River City Publications. New Edition. Oct. 2005
7. The Grand Literary Cafés of Europe
London: New Holland Publishing, Sep. 2006, USA/Canada, spring 2007
ISBN #1845371143
8. Paris Café: the Sélect Crowd
NY: Soft Skull Press, 2007
9. Sylvia Beach: Sylvia Beach: Une americaine `a Paris
Paris: Perrin. Trans. Elisabeth Danger 2011;French Translation
Noël Riley Fitch collections
- Noël Riley Fitch Collection at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at AustinUniversity of Texas at AustinThe University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
- Lib.utexas.edu
- Princeton University Library