Paris, Paris: Journey into the City of Light (Paperback)

by David Downie (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"… beautifully written and refreshingly original… makes us see [Paris] in a different light… recall[s] lost worlds in vieux Paris." -- David Armstrong, San Francisco Chronicle, September 2005

"… delightful and insightful essays meld history, atmosphere and observations on Paris places, Paris people and Paris phenomena." -- John Marshall, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, September 2005

"…. captures the sort of people and places missed by those jetting from starred bistros to hotels with showers." -- Dan Rubin, The Philadelphia Inquirer, October 2005

"…evoke[s] the soul and the substance of the city with a critic’s intelligence and a lover’s heart." -- Donald George, Global Travel Editor, Lonely Planet, 2005

"…gives fresh poetic insight into the city… a voyage into ‘the bends and recesses, the jagged edges, the secret interiors’." -- Dory Kornfeld, Departures Magazine, January-February 2006

Product Description
A collection of 30 witty, irreverent, perennial essays about Paris by the acclaimed author and journalist David Downie, a longtime Paris resident.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Transatlantic Press (September 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0976925109
• ISBN-13: 978-0976925101
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: No customer reviews yet. Be the first.
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #401,758 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

68 of 68 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Journey into Paris, Paris, October 21, 2005

By	Nancy P. Wilson (Paris, France) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I own a large library of books about France and have probably read almost every major title that features Paris. David Downie's new book Paris, Paris is in a class all its own. It is the most superbly written book on Paris I have read. Downie has a very lively and intelligent style, as well as a deliciously ironic sense of humor. He is also a real journalist in his brave tenacity to "get the story." He takes us to places I would never otherwise have access to because I would be much too timid to make the approach. For instance, to penetrate the inner sancta of fortress-like Ile Saint Louis mansions, he tells how he systematically tested the outer doors and found a few to be always open. He marches right into luxurious courtyards, has a good look around, and describes what he sees in vivid prose. Or when researching the root of the expression "city of light," he heads right to the office of the chief engineer of Paris' municipal lighting department. I found myself very impressed with his approach towards his subject and with his straightforward, unselfconscious way of expressing himself.

Downie is an American who has lived in Paris for over twenty years; however I have to imagine that he has gotten to know the city better than most natives. His curiosity leads him to all Paris' corners, not just the obvious showy places we all know and love. He does take us to some of my favorite neighborhoods and shows us details I've never noticed before, but he also points out the off-beat and even really ugly spots from where we can get a different perspective altogether on this rich, multi-layered city.

The book has three parts: places, people and phenomena. Every chapter is both entertaining and informative. I ate the book up like a plate of many-colored macarons, savoring every flavor. I highly recommend it to arm chair travelers and committed Parisphiles alike. It's full of history, humor and intelligent insight, with never a dull moment.

An evocative black and white image by Alison Harris, Mr. Downie's professional photographer wife and companion in adventure, accompanies each of the 30 chapters to add to the enjoyment.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Paris Paris: Journey into the City of Light, May 30, 2006

By	wendy johnson "a Parisian New Yorker" (Paris, France) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

David Downie is a magnificent writer. His exquisite prose reveals Paris as few other writers have. It is a must! As a native New Yorker and avid reader with eclectic tastes who has greatly enjoyed reading books on Paris and Parisians, for the more than 40 years I have lived here, Paris, Paris, has thoroughly delighted me. Every chapter is unexpected, original and yet finely tuned to reveal the universal truth or should one say truths of the City of Light. Downie writes with such extraordinary sensitivity and respect about this city, its history, its culture and most of all its people that he deserves a special place in the Pantheon of Americans who have found inspiration in their experience of the French capital. Downie demonstrates deep love of his subject matter but far from blind he also writes about the problems of Paris and the shortcomings of its population with compassion. More importantly perhaps he brings to the written page the kind of humanity that leaves his reader a better person for having taken the journey with him.

Wendy Johnson

A "Parisian" New Yorker

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Seattle Post-Intelligencer praise, September 20, 2005

By	Paris photographer - See all my reviews

I found this on the web. It's a very helpful review from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the city's main newspaper. By John Marshall
Friday, September 16, 2005

There's room for one more delightful tribute to the City of Light

Paris continues to enchant American writers, from Ernest Hemingway through Adam Gopnik. Now add David Downie to the list of ex-pat scribes who have produced memorable work about the lustrous City of Light.

Downie's new "Paris, Paris" (Transatlantic Press, 248 pages, $18.95) has even earned a remarkable accolade from vet travel-writing legend Jan Morris, who describes the book as "the most evocative American book about Paris since (Hemingway's) 'A Moveable Feast.' "

Downie is a 47-year-old native of the Bay Area who was educated at Berkeley and Brown and has lived in Paris since 1986. He had only his high school French to draw upon when he moved there from Italy, drawn by the chance to write a novel in a maid's room.

"I was an usher at the San Francisco Opera and saw 'La Boheme' probably 15 times," Downie related this week, "so I couldn't resist writing in a maid's room."

Downie soon fell in love in Paris and married a Frenchwoman, putting down roots and improving his French by immersion in daily life there. His novel was never published and now resides in a desk drawer, but the writer's reflections on his adopted city have been published in newspapers and magazines around the globe.

The delightful and insightful essays in "Paris, Paris" meld history, atmosphere and observations on Paris places, Paris people and Paris phenomena.

Of the Ile de la Cité, that timeless island in the Seine that includes Notre Dame cathedral, Downie writes, "There are benches shaded by sycamores and weeping willows, lazy anglers of uneatable bottom fish, sunbathers and moon gazers, picnickers and pairs of lovers tangled atop crumbling parapets."