Customer Reviews

Paris Journal, 1965-70

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Janet Flanner was an aspiring writer but it would be her work as a journalist for the New Yorker which earned her the most acclaim. This collection of her Parisian writings is all about the change of Paris and France itself. She had lived in Paris, France with her lifelong companion and partner, Solita Solano. Without Solita, Janet could have never accomplished so much during the five years. When the Paris starts here in 1965, Janet is already 73 years old. Most of her friends have already passed away. Solita was also Janet's unpaid secretary who typed her articles. In Paris, she had Solita while in the country there was Noel Haskins Murphy. She also had a third lover, Natalia Danesi Murray, who lived between New York City and her native Italy. The five years in this Parisian Journal offers us a glimpse of the changing ways of Paris. It still is the art capital of the world but it is no longer what it once was a primary destination for expatriates who left the United States before the Great Depression and stayed. Still, Flanner has her flannerisms and this a treasurable for all of us who have had a love affair with the city of Paris.

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 60s. She pens wonderful glimpses into what Parisians were thinking, feeling, and doing -Paris' life, wine, art, and ways of thinking. C'est magnifique.