THE CAFE SOCIETY

What does it mean to belong to the Café Society?

It means you sit up straight. You speak at a civilized volume. You never place your arms on the table. You arrive with a book, an idea, or simply the willingness to be present — and you let the morning come to you.

The Café Society: A Portrait in Five Acts is Edward A. Samuelson's love letter to the international café — written from the table of a man who has been a devoted and card-carrying member for most of his life.

Structured as five acts, the book moves through five cities across two countries: Chapala, Jalisco, México — the definitive home, where D.H. Lawrence once wrote by morning light and Tennessee Williams drafted what became A Streetcar Named Desire; Guadalajara — the cosmopolitan anchor, with its French-influenced boulevards, jacaranda plazas, and the incomparable Café Boutique at the Teatro Degollado; New York City — the urban proving ground, where café society was born glittering and seen; Seattle — where coffee became a serious art form; and Portland, Oregon — Samuelson's hometown, one of the finest café cities in North America.

Along the way, you will meet the characters who made the Mexican lakeside legendary: the literary pioneers of the 1920s–1940s, the golden age artists of the Ajijic colony, the muralists and surrealists whose energy still hums through the walls.

And you will find edd himself — at a corner table, espresso sencillo in hand, glass of cold water alongside — practicing what he preaches: the slow, irreplaceable ritual of showing up, sitting down, and letting the world come to you.

About the author: Edward A. Samuelson MA, DD is an artist, healer, and life guide living in Chapala, Jalisco, Mexico. He has been a regular at La Cafetería Pastería América since 2006. The espresso is excellent. He is always there. The table is waiting.