A NEW YORK TIMES "SUMMER READING" PICK!
From the incomparable John Baxter, award-winning author of the
bestselling 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.
When 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.
