“The world economic crisis may be deepening, but the Paris Book Fair (Salon du Livre) will open its doors for six days on 13th March with a brighter backdrop than many other sectors of the leisure business could hope for,” comments Barbara Casassus on her blog at The Bookseller. She says that in France, “Book sales are holding up better than other segments and institutional and corporate sponsors of the fair have pledged between 5% and 10% more cash than last year.” While a few publishers have pulled out because of the financial crisis, many Arab publishers who pulled out last year because Israel was the guest of honor will be back, making for better overall attendance than ever. Best of all, notes Casassus, “the French unions have scheduled their next general strike the day after the salon closes.”