The Only Street in Paris, Elaine Sciolino
The Only Street in Paris, Elaine Sciolino
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The Only Street in Paris
Life on the Rue Des Martyrs

Author: Elaine Sciolino

Narrator: Elaine Sciolino

Unabridged: 8 hr

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 11/24/2015

Synopsis

Elaine Sciolino, the former Paris bureau chief of the New York Times, invites us on a tour of her favorite Parisian street, offering an homage to street life and the pleasures of Parisian living. While many cities suffer from the leveling effects of globalization, the rue des Martyrs maintains its distinct allure. On this street, the patron saint of France was beheaded and the Jesuits took their first vows. It was here that Edgar Degas and Pierre-Auguste Renoir painted circus acrobats, Emile Zola situated a lesbian dinner club in his novel Nana, and François Truffaut filmed scenes from The 400 Blows. Sciolino reveals the charms and idiosyncrasies of this street and its longtime residents—the Tunisian greengrocer, the husband-and-wife cheesemongers, the showman who's been running a transvestite cabaret for more than half a century, the owner of a 100-year-old bookstore, the woman who repairs eighteenth-century mercury barometers—bringing Paris alive in all of its unique majesty. The Only Street in Paris will make listeners hungry for Paris, for cheese and wine, and for the kind of street life that is all too quickly disappearing.

About Elaine Sciolino

Elaine Sciolino is a writer for the New York Times in Paris and the author of La Seduction: How the French Play the Game of Life, Persian Mirrors: The Elusive Face of Iran, and The Outlaw State: Saddam Hussein's Quest for Power and the Gulf Crisis. In 2010, she was decorated as a chevalier of the Legion of Honor for her special contribution to the friendship between France and the United States. She has worked for Newsweek in New York, Chicago, Paris, and Rome and has held a number of posts at the New York Times, including Paris bureau chief, United Nations bureau chief, Central Intelligence Agency correspondent, and chief diplomatic correspondent.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Sheirin

Having lived off the Rue de Martyrs in another life, I was excited to read this book, but the author was absolutely insufferable. Between her many passing brags about "her least favorite Hermès" and her bulldozing her way into everybody's personal lives, I wonder if her neighbors ever perfected a wa......more

Goodreads review by John

It turns out that I don't like memoirs by extroverts. Who knew? The best parts were the stories of the people and the history of the street. The worst parts were where the author is like: "Let me tell you about how I wanted the Pope to visit the street and someone thought that was a good idea and I w......more

Goodreads review by Laura

It will be impossible to ever understand all of Paris's secrets. This book unlocked the secrets of one of its streets: with unexpected details about its past and present residents and architecture. Overall colorful and funny. It's also a testament to the power of mindfulness: of paying attention, of......more

Goodreads review by Paul

The Only Street in Paris was entertaining at times, but I sensed that the author's background clouded the book. She plays up the fact that she comes from a Sicilian immigrant background, but she obviously is upper upper middle class these days. I felt that her connection with the shop keepers on her......more

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