An American in Paris [Paperback]

Margaret Vandenburg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 30, 2000

An American in Paris introduces Henrietta Adams, a young foreign correspondent assigned to report on the burgeoning artistic elite of Paris. In the process, Henrietta discovers romantic intrigue, along with an international art theft plot that implicates none other than Picasso. She finds a charmed life that would have been unimaginable in America at that time.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

It's 1925, and Henrietta Adams (christened "Henri" early in the novel, in a conscious evocation of Henry Adams) is a breathless girl in Paris, ostensibly engaged in art journalism for the American magazine that is funding her visit, but in fact seeking sapphic embraces in Natalie Barney's salon of aristocratic inverts and Gertrude Stein's more high-minded gatherings. Acquaintance with Hemingway, Picasso, Djuna Barnes, James Joyce, and other luminaries helps Henri round out her education. By night, she explores lesbian clubs in masculine attire, searching for an elegant woman to love. Despite some fine writing, especially in the second half of the book, An American in Paris has two serious flaws. Margaret Vandenburg has not picked up on the formal diction or manners of the early 20th century. She depicts Stein, for example, as a sort of slangy softball dyke, yelling across the room, "Hey Alice," and other anachronisms, annoying to anyone familiar with the literature or history of the period. Also, at times, the book can read like a Platonic dialogue, an excuse for discussing ideas rather than a fully fleshed-out work of fiction with complex, faceted characters moving through a carefully observed world. This improves over the course of the novel, however, and readers who press on past halfway will find themselves staying the course and wishing Henri could get a little more illicit knowledge of the Parisian underworld before returning to Puritan America. --Regina Marler

From Publishers Weekly

"If Radcliffe was my college, Paris has been my graduate school." So ends Vandenburg's debut novel of a young art historian's sojourn among the Sapphic avant-garde movers and shakers of prewar Paris. Every icon of the period makes an appearance: Gertrude Stein, Alice B. Toklas, Natalie Barney, Sylvia Beach, Adrienne Monnier, Bryher, Hemingway, Picasso, Juan Gris and James Joyce are only some of the luminaries who appear in salons, clubs, studios and lesbian nightclubs in the course of this amusing and fact-filled frolic. Henrietta "Henri" Adams, native of Utah, graduate of Radcliffe and seeker of Sappho's daughters, lands an assignment from En Vogue magazine to write a column covering the American involvement in the avant-garde art movement in Paris. In a first person, autobiographical style, she records her courageous attempts to recreate herself, being mentored in the process by Gertrude Stein. Vandenburg uses her heroine's proximity to the radical artists of the era to present her theories, ranging from connections between Cubism and psychoanalysis to the codification of sapphic sexuality. If all this academic information, painlessly conveyed, were not enough, Vandenburg also gives us plenty of sex. A deliciously explicit scene finds Henri discovering her sadomasochistic proclivities in a sinfully appointed club called Le Masque. Her education complete, Henri cuts her hair and plans a triumphant, uncloseted return to New York as editor of an avant-garde pressDjust in time to get in on the new queer scene unfolding in Greenwich Village. Did Kahnweiler really support his artists through a massive insurance scam? Was Hemingway actually a closet homosexual? Vandenburg, associate director of the writing program at Barnard College, offers more than a few choice tidbits of gossip, and if the characters and scenes never quite come to life, perhaps it's simply too much to ask of this academic romp. (Dec.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: Cleis Press; 1 edition (September 30, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573441074
• ISBN-13: 978-1573441070
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,837,424 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A provocative and promising novel, November 12, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: An American in Paris (Paperback)

I opened this book with some trepidation. From the cover it looked like Ms. Vandenburg had taken an awful lot on herself. Paris in the 20s? "Talk about overdone!" However, from the moment I read the first line I was quickly transported into the world she had created. The main strength of the novel is the fine-tuned characterization of the protagonist, Henri Adams. The coming-of-age plot is nicely enhanced by the obvious growth of the character. The entire book is narrated by Henri, which helps this, even though she's supposedly reminiscing. The prose is occasionally overburdened with adjectives and awkward word combinations, and while some of that can be attributed to the narrator I found it a bit tough to get through once in a while. That said, there are some wonderfully witty bits of prose that stand out... the scenes in the Paris underground gave me exquisite chills and some of the dialogue made me laugh so hard I had to hold on to my chair. The setting of the story, while vast, is handled deftly. It is obvious that the author has a vast knowledge of the time period. All of the famous characters (Gertrude Stein, Picasso, etcetera) are nicely depicted in a way that makes me almost forget that they were and are celebrities. That was a nice touch. Overall, this is quite nicely done. I recommend it highly to most. I look forward to seeing more from this new face in the future.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Delicious Romp, September 23, 2005

By 

KC from NYC - See all my reviews

This review is from: An American in Paris (Paperback)

Having been a lover of the Paris of Gertrude Stein and Picasso since my early teens, I was very excited to read Vandenburg's An American in Paris; and, I was not disappointed. Vandenburg has written an eloquent, funny, delightful romp through the academic and sexual turns of the fictional Henri and the "non-fictional" Stein and Alice B. Playing with language (both academic and foreign) and gender stereotypes, Vandenburg illuminates a young woman's journey to self-discovery with a wonderfully light touch and deliciously wry sense of humor.

2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Vandenburg And Freud, March 31, 2005

By 

Catherine Earnshaw - See all my reviews

This review is from: An American in Paris (Paperback)

Vandenburg loves hysteria, female repression, and of course, dildos. And while she is an excellent theorist, her writing is juvenile. If you like Sex in the City a la 1920s Paris but minus the wit (and the great clothes), then An American In Paris is the ice cream for you. Vandenburg knows how to pop a cherry with aplomb, but this type of self-masturbatory prose is self indulgent. Not only is the movie better- I'd watch it for dessert instead.