A Year in Paris, John Baxter
A Year in Paris, John Baxter
3 Rating(s)
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A Year in Paris
Season by Season in the City of Light

Author: John Baxter

Narrator: Graham Halstead

Unabridged: 7 hr 13 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperAudio

Published: 02/26/2019


Synopsis

From the incomparable John Baxter, the bestselling author of The Most Beautiful Walk in the World, a sumptuous and definitive portrait of Paris through the seasons, highlighting the unique tastes, sights, and changing personality of the city in spring, summer, fall, and winter.“A man with a great appreciation of what makes Paris tick.”— NewsdayWhen the common people of France revolted in 1789, one of the first ways they chose to correct the excesses of the monarchy and the church was to rename the months of the year. Selected by poet and playwright Philippe-Francois-Nazaire Fabre, these new names reflected what took place at that season in the natural world; Fructidor was the month of fruit, Floréal that of flowers, while the winter wind (vent) dominated Ventôse. Though the names didn’t stick, these seasonal rhythms of the year continue to define Parisians, as well as travelers to the city. As acclaimed author and long-time Paris resident John Baxter himself recollects, “My own arrival in France took place in Nivôse, the month of snow, and continued in Pluviôse, the season of rain. To someone coming from Los Angeles, where seasons barely existed, the shock was visceral. Struggling to adjust, I found reassurance in the literature, music, even the cuisine of my adoptive country, all of which marched to the inaudible drummer of the seasons.”Devoting a section of the book to each of Fabre’s months, Baxter draws upon Paris’s literary, cultural and artistic past to paint an affecting, unforgettable portrait of the city. Touching upon the various ghosts of Paris past, from Hemingway and Zelda Fitzgerald, to Claude Debussy to MFK Fisher to Francois Mitterrand, Baxter evokes the rhythms of the seasons in the City of Light, and the sense of wonder they can arouse for all who visit and live there.A melange of history, travel reportage, and myth, of high culture and low, A Year in Paris is vintage John Baxter: a vicarious thrill ride for anyone who loves Paris.

About John Baxter

John Baxter has lived in Paris for more than twenty years. He is the author of four acclaimed memoirs about his life in France: The Perfect Meal: In Search of the Lost Tastes of France; The Most Beautiful Walk in the World: A Pedestrian in Paris; Immoveable Feast: A Paris Christmas; and We'll Always Have Paris: Sex and Love in the City of Light. Baxter, who gives literary walking tours through Paris, is also a film critic and biographer whose subjects have included the directors Fellini, Kubrick, Woody Allen, and most recently, Josef von Sternberg. Born in Australia, he lives with his wife and daughter in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés neighborhood, in the same building Sylvia Beach called home.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Beth on February 06, 2020

By the title, I expected this book to be tightly honed on Paris, and with a chronological flow that allowed me to get a sense of the city's seasons. Instead, the subject matter wandered much as one might as a flaneur in Paris itself. I really didn't care to find out about his sexual exploits of the......more

Goodreads review by Deb (Readerbuzz) on January 21, 2019

There may be no better guide through Paris than John Baxter. He is an outsider and an insider, able to look at Paris with both the objective viewpoint of an onlooker and the heart of a Paris lover who has been invited to partake of the secret joys of the Paris life. He is a researcher and a writer w......more

Goodreads review by Mary on May 26, 2020

This book was just alright. I have a trip planned for France and thought it would give me some ideas on what to visit. Instead it was about some history of the French calendar and other bits of French trivia. The trivia seemed to be random in nature and different for each chapter. I read "A Paris Ch......more

Goodreads review by Kelly on November 30, 2019

This book was just all over the place. It's title and cover are deceiving. The parts about the post-French Revolution calendar were interesting, but they are few and far between. Just stick to something!......more

Goodreads review by Sal on July 09, 2019

I loved the back and forth weaving of the revolutionary calendar with the Paris of present time. As a student of the French Revolution, this was an innovative take of historical and current culture/events. Yes there are some mistakes but on all it was a fun read......more