Hello--My brother's girlfriend recently took her first trip to Paris and just loved it. I would like to get her a book for Christmas (English language, please) that might evoke Paris and the surrounding area.

Maybe photograghy (Brassai I know. Any others?). Maybe fiction--I've only read Victor Hugo, so I'd love more recommendations. Maybe memoir--I really enjoyed Hemingway's Moveable Feast, but I don't really know any others.

Thanks in advance!

While not fiction, I'd suggest <i>Paris to the Moon</i> by Adam Gopnik. It's a series of articles that he wrote while in Paris for a couple of years. It is a wry and insightful look at the city and its residents.

Anselm

Among photographers, you might look into books with images by Eugene Atget (1857-1927) and Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004).

Atget was more interested in the urban landscape of Paris; Cartier-Bresson in the moment, often but not always with a recognizably Parisian setting.

I can highly recommend Adam Gopnik's Paris to the Moon. This is an excellent collection of memoirs/essays. Gopnik covers lots and lots of places in Paris and wrote for The New Yorker from there.

I thought this book was intelligent, literate, entertaining, informative, insightful, occasionally intellectual (the discussions of philosphers and French politicians)... all in all a very worthwhile read. It is also occasionally light (his adventures with his young son while living in Paris).

Mine is a rather disjointed and not very well written review, but I do recommend this book. I would have liked to get this as a gift.

THanks. Now that you mention it, I do remember seeing that in stores a couple of years ago.

Oops--didn't see all of these responses a second ago. I like Cartier-Bresson's work but I've always thought of him as a portraitist. Love his image of William Faulkner with his dogs frolicing around him. I have only a passing familiarity with Atget's work, but I'll look into it and the Paris to the Moon book. My bro's girlfriend isn't particularly intellectual, but she's very interested in the arts--was both a studio and art history major in college. Does this help for more recommendations? Thanks!

Oh, and if you can find a copy, Nancy Mitford's totally delightful Don't Tell Alfred. Here is a link to Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...78359?v=glance

Paris Walks
Paris in Mind
The Secret Life of the Seine

Not sure if this is what you have in mind, but how about &quot;Paris 500 Photos&quot; by Maurice Subervie and Bertrand Delanoe? Here is a link to it on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...588128-1150554 I have a copy and I have really enjoyed it.

Not sure if it's been published in the US, but Edmund White's &quot;Le Flaneur&quot; is a short overview of some of the less obvious sides of Paris life.

&quot;Almost French&quot; by Sarah Turnbull

The Piano Shop on the Left Bank, by Thad Carhart.

If it is photos of Paris you are looking for, I reco Paris from Above by Yann Arthus-Bertrand or Above Paris by Robert Cameron.

A few of my Favorites-
Kiki's Paris,
Paris was Yestrday,
Paris was a Woman,
Paris in my mind,
The Belly of Paris and a Lady's Paradise
(both by Zola)
A place in the World caklled Paris,
The Flaneur and also Our Paris
(both by Edmund White)
Remembrance of things Paris,
You could almost eat outside,
A Parisian's Paris

Thanks for all of the great suggestions, folks!

Travelers' Tales Guides - Paris
(true stories of life on the road)
Edited by James O'Reilly, Larry Habegger..

Part of a series, also one for France

Almost French. About an australian woman who ends up in Paris and marries a frenchman. It`s about her life coming to grips with a different culture. Le Divorce was entertaining too, just a nice easy fiction. I had never heard of a kelly purse before!