The Two-Penny Bar - (Inspector Maigret) by Georges Simenon (Paperback)

About the Book

"First published in French as La Guinguette aa deux sous by Fayard, 1932"--Title page verso.

Book Synopsis

"A writer as comfortable with reality as with fiction, with passion as with reason." --John Le Carré

A forgotten crime comes to light in the heart of Parisian summer in this twisted Inspector Maigret tale

"A radiant late afternoon. The sunshine almost as thick as syrup in the quiet streets of the Left Bank . . . there are days like this, when ordinary life seems heightened, when the people walking down the street, the trams and cars all seem to exist in a fairy tale."

A story told by a condemned man leads Maigret to a bar by the Seine and into the sleazy underside of respectable Parisian life. In the oppressive heat of summer, a forgotten crime comes to light.

Review Quotes

Praise for Georges Simenon:

"One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century . . . Simenon was unequaled at making us look inside, though the ability was masked by his brilliance at absorbing us obsessively in his stories." --The Guardian

"These Maigret books are as timeless as Paris itself." --The Washington Post

"The matchless French crime novelist." --Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker

"Maigret ranks with Holmes and Poirot in the pantheon of fictional detective immortals." --People

"I love reading Simenon. He makes me think of Chekhov." --William Faulkner

"An astute observer of human nature, writing in a spare and vivid style." --Amor Towles

"I never read contemporary fiction-with one exception: the works of Simenon." --T.S. Eliot

"A writer as comfortable with reality as with fiction, with passion as with reason." --John Le Carré

"One of the most important writers of our century." --Gabriel García Márquez

"A favorite writer of mine." --Sigrid Nunez

"A great writer of detail, of atmosphere." --Leïla Slimani

"Feels incredibly modern...A great writer." --Ian Rankin

"The greatest of all, the most genuine novelist we have had in literature." --André Gide

"A supreme writer . . . Unforgettable vividness." --The Independent (London)

"Superb . . . The most addictive of writers . . . A unique teller of tales." --The Observer (London)

"Compelling, remorseless, brilliant." --John Gray

"A truly wonderful writer . . . Marvelously readable--lucid, simple, absolutely in tune with the world he creates." --Muriel Spark

"A novelist who entered his fictional world as if he were a part of it." --Peter Ackroyd

"Extraordinary masterpieces of the twentieth century." --John Banville

"Gem-hard soul-probes . . . not just the world's bestselling detective series, but an imperishable literary legend . . . he exposes secrets and crimes not by forensic wizardry, but by the melded powers of therapist, philosopher and confessor" ―Times (London)

"Strangely comforting . . . so many lovely bistros from the Paris of mid-20th C. The corpses are incidental, it's the food that counts." ―Margaret Atwood

"One of the greatest writers of the 20th century . . . no other writer can set up a scene as sharply and with such economy as Simenon does . . . the conjuring of a world, a place, a time, a set of characters - above all, an atmosphere." ―Financial Times

"Gripping . . . richly rewarding . . . You'll quickly find yourself obsessing about his life as you tackle each mystery in turn." ―Stig Abell, The Sunday Times (London)

About the Author

Georges Simenon was born in Liège, Belgium, in 1903. Best known in Britain as the author of the Maigret books, his prolific output of over 400 novels and short stories have made him a household name in continental Europe. He died in 1989 in Lausanne, Switzerland, where he had lived for the latter part of his life.