A small moment of serendipity

The same night I finished Patrick Suskind's Perfume which is set in 18th century France and culminates in a collosal public gathering, I cracked the spine on Siva Vaidhyanathan's The Anarchist in the Library: How the Clash Between Freedom and Control is Hacking the Real World and Crashing the System. The first chapter of that book begins:

Parisians living in the turbulent eghteenth century fount out about their world and their politics by sharing "public noises" (bruits publics) in a handful of social nodes around the city. They gathered and gossiped at Pont Neuf, on particular benches in Luxemborug Garden, in avarious cafes, and most importantly under the Tree of Cracow in the gard of the Palais Royal. [...]

You've got to want it.