Les Chats de Paris [Hardcover]

Barnaby Conrad (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1996

From kittens peering out of curtained shop windows to mysterious tomcats slinking across tiled rooftops, les chats parisiens embody the sensuous spirit of Paris. This charming volume presents an artful gallery of black-and-white photographs of felines by such twentieth-century master photographers as Jacques Henri Lantigue, Edouard Boubat, and Robert Doisneau. Accompanied by an entertaining introduction and whimsical musings on cats by some of France's most ?illustrious intellectuals, including Chateaubriand, Baudelaire, and Colette, Les Chats de Paris will delight cat lovers and Francophiles the world over.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

What could be a more sophisticated combination than the elegant streets of Paris, coupled with a regal brigade of fancy French felines? For this luxurious collection of black and white photographs, Barnaby Conrad III has selected prints that reflect the fascination and deep respect Parisians have for their cats. The photographs span almost 100 years of city life and include work by the greatest French photographers including Jacques Henri Lartigue, Gilberte Brassai, and Robert Doisneau. Truly urbanized, the Parisian cat traverses city roofs, slinks over cobbled streets, and curls up in the arms of loving city dwellers. Some of the selected photographs border on the bizarre--Max Vadukul presents a collage of black and white cats flying through the air above a classic Parisian rooftop.

Cats not only fascinated great French photographers, but also captured the imagination of famous French writers. A sampling of kitty-inspired words by Collette and Baudelaire complete this elegant little book.

About the Author

Barnaby Conrad III is a painter and the author of ten books including Absinthe: History in a Bottle , published by Chronicle Books (0-8118-1650-8).

Product Details

• Hardcover: 72 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (April 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811811867
• ISBN-13: 978-0811811866
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 7.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,778,151 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars For the Francoailurophile in your life, December 14, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Les Chats de Paris (Hardcover)

There are some amazing shots of cats in this book, more so, even, than of dogs in Conrad's "Les Chiens de Paris". (I would assume it's more difficult to pose a cat than a dog.) However, there is also a bit of filler here, which wasn't true of the dog volume, possibly due to a smaller pool of eligible photos. Still, these cats are in rain gutters, atop pay phones, chasing mice along yardsticks, peeking over sheet music, performing in a street circus, tucked into a man's four-foot beard.

The pictures are adorable and innocent, but watch out. Conrad's witty introduction contains some racy passages (about the she-cat's sexual prowess, and a neutered tom's suicide) that might make some think twice about giving it to (literate) children. (If "Chiens" is G, "Chats" is PG-13.) For the urban adult ailurophile, however, this is the perfect gift.