Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 11
 Paris for lovers - and would-be lovers August 25, 2010
G. M. Sinstadt
One of my books of the year: delight from first page to last.
Graham Robb's series of essays about Paris past and present are everything that most guide books are not: idiosyncratic, informative, amusing, provocative in the sense that the reader is provoked to explore, and (not least) beautifully written.
Who, for example, has read a book entitled L'Infection de Paris about the former village of Bondy where much of the city's sewage was dumped, the odour returning the foul stench whence it came? "According to the book," Robb writes, "the unregistered workers who made a living from the city's waste were 'a transient population of foreigners, mostly Germans and Luxembourgois of dubious origin' ... It was unclear whether the threat to Paris was believed to come from its own excrement or from the alien population that processed it." Immigration seen as something other than a cold statistic.
If you want to know what happened when Marie Antionette turned left when she should have turned right, what Adolf Hitler saw on a private tour of Paris in June 1940, how Marcel Proust discovered the Métro, or the record time for a lap of the Pérépherique - all this and much more is here.
There is, too, an assumption of a reader who is curious and moderately intelligent, allowing the author to unravel his tales one teasing step at a time. How rewarding guide books would be if every city had its own Graham Robb.
Enthralling! August 13, 2010
Adam Donaldson (UK)
After visiting Paris for the 3rd time, both other times were over 20 years ago, I sat down and read Parisians. Loved it all! Amazing! Each story is just fascinating in their own right. I read a story a day until the last three when I spaced them out as I really did not want this book to end. It's true as he says 'all the millions will have to come and visit again' The Paris I knew 20 years ago and fell in love with has subtly changed. The buildings are mostly the same but the essence is just different, Robb captures this perfectly.
Brilliant, thank you Graham Robb
Parisians August 10, 2010
tigers
Another highly entertaining book from Mr Robb. Witty, instructive and, above all, eminently readable.
Couldn't put it down! July 9, 2010
Satya Yoga Teacher (Clinton, WA United States)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
"Parisians" is an enthralling, irresistible evocation of place and its human inhabitants...a river of sensation simultaneously dreamlike and as real as the aroma of fresh-baked bread.
 it looks good not had time to read yet June 4, 2010
mars bar
0 out of 9 found this review helpful
Not had time to read yet but i like all Dumas work so am bias.
Would prefer it to have been printed in a darker ink, makes it easier to read.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 11
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