Customer Reviews

Paris Journal, 1944-1955

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Flanner (nom de plume: Genęt), a former New Yorker essayist and who lived in Paris for many years, describes the cultural and social life of Paris in the 40s and 50s. She pens wonderful glimpses into what Parisians were thinking, feeling, and doing -Paris' life, wine, art, and ways of thinking. C'est magnifique.

Janet Flanner who went by the name of Genet for the New Yorker again publishes the brilliance of her articles in this book spanning from 1944 when she returned to Paris, France and until 1955. She had spent the four years with her friend and lover, Natalia Danesi Murray, in New York City while summering at Cherry Grove, Fire Island. When she returns to Paris, France, she is astonished by what she sees, learns, and knows about the war especially the trials at Nuremberg which she covered as a journalist. She writes about the horrors of the concentration camp; the life in fear that many Parisians and Europeans had to live with during the war. As good as life was before the war in beloved Paris, nothing was ever the same again after the war whether in Paris or throughout Europe. The Paris between the wars no longer exists and the American expatriates who left their native country from the Great Depression returned to their native country. Paris had to recover and it was lucky since it was not damaged as much as other parts of Europe. The devastation is unforgettable and unfathomable with death and destruction all around Europe. Janet writes about the recovery that Paris must make which is more psychological and social than anything else. By now, Janet is 52 years old upon her return and many of her friends are growing old and dying out as well. Still, Janet returns to her beloved Paris with SOlita, her longtime companion, lover and unpaid secretary in tow to continue their partnership which inspired Djuna Barnes to write them as Nip and Tuck.