Paris Was Ours

Paris is “the world capital of memory and desire,” concludes one of the writers in this intimate and insightful collection of memoirs of the city. Living in Paris changed these writers forever.

In thirty-two personal essays—more than half of which are here published for the first time—the writers describe how they were seduced by Paris and then began to see things differently. They came to write, to cook, to find love, to study, to raise children, to escape, or to live the way it’s done in French movies; they came from the United States, Canada, and England; from Iran, Iraq, and Cuba; and—a few—from other parts of France. And they stayed, not as tourists, but for a long time; some are still living there. They were outsiders who became insiders, who here share their observations and revelations. Some are well-known writers: Diane Johnson, David Sedaris, Judith Thurman, Joe Queenan, and Edmund White. Others may be lesser known but are no less passionate on the subject.

Together, their reflections add up to an unusually perceptive and multifaceted portrait of a city that is entrancing, at times exasperating, but always fascinating. They remind us that Paris belongs to everyone it has touched, and to each in a different way.

• The Most Beautiful Walk in the World: A Pedestrian in Paris
• Almost French: Love and a New Life in Paris
• The Only Street in Paris: Life on the Rue des Martyrs
• The Sweet Life in Paris: Delicious Adventures in the World's Most Glorious - and Perplexing - City
• Echo in the Canyon [Blu-ray]
• L'Appart: The Delights and Disasters of Making My Paris Home
• The Streets of Paris: A Guide to the City of Light Following in the Footsteps of Famous Parisians Throughout History
• Curiosities of Paris: An idiosyncratic guide to overlooked delights... hidden in plain sight
• My Twenty-Five Years in Provence: Reflections on Then and Now
• The Turk Who Loved Apples