I'll Always Have Paris [Paperback]

Art Buchwald (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 15, 1997

"ART BUCHWALD DOES IT AGAIN. . . . A GREAT READ."
--Larry King, USA Today

In 1948, an American innocent named Art Buchwald set sail for Paris, France, determined to crash Hemingway's moveable feast and make himself famous. What's more, he did it.

Now he remembers those golden years--when he wrote for the Paris Herald Tribune, fell in love, spoofed Hemingway, dined with gangsters, and crashed costume balls in Venice. Everything that has made Buchwald one of the world's best-loved writers is in this funny, enchanting, poignant book.

"HONEST AND MOVING . . . A CONSUMMATE STORYTELLER."
--The New York Times Book Review

"ROLLICKING . . . The book gallops and gambols along. . . . Buchwald is a master of the anecdote."
--The Baltimore Sun

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Art Buchwald's delightful romp through 1948 Paris is a witty tribute to the city he fell in love with. Existing on the GI Bill's munificence (until he's docked for skipping school and must work for the Herald Tribune instead), Buchwald recounts his youthful quest to become a great writer. He tells of when he met Hemingway (who asked if he'd ever wrestled a bear), lauds the pissoir as one of France's most civilized monuments, pays tribute to the café life, and writes of his hobnobs with James Thurber, Gregory Corso, Lauren Bacall, and Lena Horne (who found the priest who married him to Ann). From his Montparnasse garret to his induction by the Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin, he's a consummate storyteller, and his Paris is a witty gift.

From Publishers Weekly

Tired of eating leftover meat loaf in Queens, New York, Buchwald, a 22-year-old budding journalist in 1948, landed in Paris and talked his way into becoming restaurant and nightclub reviewer for the Paris bureau of the New York Herald Tribune. His celebrated "Paris After Dark" column, plus interview pieces, launched his career. Both irreverently funny and deeply touching, this golden memoir (a sequel to Leaving Home) gloriously recreates the adventurous, liberated spirit of expatriate Paris, as Buchwald hobnobs with Janet Flanner, E.B. White, Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, Thornton Wilder, and recalls brief encounters with Picasso, Hemingway, Orson Welles, Mike Todd, Audrey Hepburn, Roy Cohn. He also met and in 1952 married Ann McGarry, an Irish American couture apprentice from Pennsylvania, and they adopted three children as Buchwald overcame self-doubts engendered by his unstable foster-home childhood. The book's second half recalls trips to Rome, London, Moscow, Warsaw, Istanbul and his return to the U.S. in 1963, but this travelogue pales beside the Paris section, which magically makes the reader feel young and hopeful. 100,000 first printing; $100,000 ad/promo; author tour.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (October 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0449912337
• ISBN-13: 978-0449912331
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #32,618 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #31 in Books > Travel > Europe > France > Paris
  • #65 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Professionals & Academics > Journalists

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious and nostalgic, February 19, 2006

By 

Jerry Z (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: I'll Always Have Paris (Paperback)

Art Buchwald deserves a place alongside Mark Twain, Will Rogers, Robert Benchley and Erma Bombeck as the creme de la creme of American humorists.

Speaking of creme de la creme and other things French, Buchwald's career began in the City of Light, where he went in 1948 on the G.I. Bill, hoping to become a great writer in the style of his hero, Ernest Hemingway. Instead, he became a great writer in his own style and has long been a hero to other humorists (including yours truly) who wish they had even a fraction of Buchwald's talent.

"I'll Always Have Paris!" is not a collection of newspaper columns, as most of The Master's 33 books have been. It is the second part of his classic memoirs, the first being the wonderful "Leaving Home."

In "I'll Always Have Paris!," Buchwald wittily recounts talking his way into a dream job as a columnist for the European edition of the New York Herald Tribune, despite having had almost no professional experience.

He then recalls his exploits as a bon vivant and a humorist nonpareil. Best of all, he tells a magical love story -- his wooing of and marriage to Ann McGarry, a redhead from Pennsylvania who made the most romantic city on earth even more heavenly for the kid from Queens.

Whether the tears are from laughing or crying, you'll shed them. I've never been to Paris, but I hope to get there one day. Until then, thanks to Art Buchwald, I'll always have "I'll Always Have Paris!"

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This Made Me Want to Read More Buchwald & Go to Paris!, December 8, 2000

By 

njbookworm (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: I'll Always Have Paris (Paperback)

While I had heard of the legendary Buchwald, I had never read any his books or his popular newspaper column. After having read this, though, I would consider myself a fan.

This delicious memoir chronicles Buchwald's experiences in Paris -- finding love, studying on the G.I. bill, getting his first job at the much-revered "Trib" (Herald Tribune newspaper). He recounts these times with a nostalgic air permeated with his delightfully self-effacing wit.

The book stirrs an amazing desire to want to throw yourself in a jet and fly to Paris as Buchwald lovingly describes the food and places that shaped his trip.

You may even want to read this book just for the cameos by famous writers, musicians, and politicians. It seems that Buchwald bumped into just about every 20th-century history maker during his time in Paris. (The part about Ginsburg and Picasso is wonderful!)

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars City of Love, August 27, 2001

By 

"dodie_" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: I'll Always Have Paris (Paperback)

I first read this book last year after a trip to Europe which included a brief and wonderful trip to Paris. Buckwald has captured the essense of life in Paris. For those not in love with the city, this might lead to the thought that this would be a dull book. However, this book is a witty scream which left me at times reading with my mouth hanging open in amazement and at other times laughing out loud as I read turned the page. I wish I could have met him - or better yet, been able to attend one of the parties mentioned in the book. I would recommend this book to anyone. It is fascinating, irreverent and jovial. A great read.