Description

*WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY ALEXANDER CHEE*

‘A stylish, deftly erudite and enormously diverting book’ – Sunday Telegraph

‘An artfully aimless pleasure cruise around Paris’ – Guardian

‘White’s genius as a flaneur is revealed in his affinity for unexpected pleasures, and he includes many for our delectation’ – New Yorker
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A unique and eclectic view of Paris through the eyes of a fierce and witty intellect.

A flaneur is a stroller, a loiterer, someone who ambles without apparent purpose but is secretly attuned to the history of the streets he walks – and is in covert search of adventure, aesthetic or erotic.

Acclaimed writer Edmund White, who lived in Paris for sixteen years, wanders through the avenues and along the quays, into parts of the city virtually unknown to visitors and indeed to many locals, luring the reader into the fascinating and seductive backstreets of his personal Paris.
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‘One has the impression of having fallen into the hands of a highly distractible, somewhat eccentric poet and professor who is determined to show you a Paris you wouldn’t otherwise see . . . White tells such a good story that I’m ready to listen to anything he wants to talk about’ – New York Times Book Review

Publisher Review

A stylish, deftly erudite and enormously diverting book * SUNDAY TELEGRAPH * An artfully aimless pleasure cruise around Paris . . . What makes this book especially appealing is that it teems with private discoveries made public. It is good to read a refreshing un-journalistic take on the paradoxes of Paris . . . White finds France in the details he unearths -- Stuart Jeffries * GUARDIAN * White's genius as a flaneur is revealed in his affinity for unexpected pleasures, and he includes many for our delectation, from his encounters with present-day royalists to Colette's one-time antidote for food poisoning: a stuffed cabbage and a currant tart * NEW YORKER * A celebration of the diversity and freedom of big-city life ... First published in 2001, Edmund White's evocative paean to the city he lived in from 1983 to 1998 remains a delight ... For White, "Paris lives in the details" -- P. D. James * GUARDIAN * Impersonating the flaneur allows White to throw away the guidebooks and wander through Paris and its cultures with a poet's eye . . . One has the impression of having fallen into the hands of a highly distractible, somewhat eccentric poet and professor who is determined to show you a Paris you wouldn't otherwise see * NEW YORK TIMES * White assumes the identity of a flaneur . . . a dandyish quality which suits him well. His style is gracious and the good bits are so delicious one is left wanting more * SUNDAY TIMES * A very good and beautifully written short study of Paris, one that every prospective visitor, and indeed, every old Paris hand, should have in his or her suitcase * INDEPENDENT * His Pairs is a resident's, not a tourist's; that is one of the charms of this little book. He gives you a Paris that the guidebooks don't. A delight . . . No one who loves Paris should neglect it * LITERARY REVIEW * Steeped in philosophical observation, White's nonchalant tour traces a course through this quintessentially walker's city . . . investing the areas he comes across with the haunting resonance of his own solitary imaginings * DAILY EXPRESS * The vision of Paris he conjures up in this handsome little book is a highly personal one, free of nostalgia, and up-to-the-minute * SPECTATOR * Full of dark diversions and delightful French fancies. Intimate and idiosyncratic . . . A thought-provoking antidote to the practicalities of the average travel guide. White has a sharp sense of humour and one of the aspects which make this book so enjoyable to read is the wealth of anecdotal information * SCOTSMAN * White looks in at an outsider's city . . . Full of quirky information about the capital, it celebrates the activity of strolling idly through the city * INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY *