April 2009 Book of the Month.

The perfect book for the armchair traveller as well as those of you visiting cities around the globe. With extracts from over 60 authors such as Joanne Harris talking about chocolate in Montmartre or Victor Hugo describing the view from the top of Notre Dame. Whether it be fiction, non-fiction, blogs or journalism, lose yourself in the Paris discovered by others and be inspired to visit and indulge in the city as never before. These guides are perfect for dipping in to and will transport you to the city of your choice through the wonderful writings of those who have been before.

A few words about Paris from Stephen Clarke...

'Paris is not entirely unique. You can sit in cafés, wear designer clothes and even have sex in lots of other towns. It just feels unique, as if everything you do, from buying underwear to chewing a hunk of baguette, is somehow more stylish because you’re doing it in Paris. Certainly Parisians act as if they’re unique – not as a community but each individual one of them. It is the city of moi. As they walk down the street they’re thinking, look at moi. Even when they’re kissing a friend on the cheeks, they’re saying it – moi, moi. And the obsession driving each moi is its lifestyle. Parisians have elevated lifestyle to an art – no, more than an art, it is (as only the French can say properly) a raison d’être.'

City-Lit Paris is Introduced by Stephen Clarke, bestselling author of A Year in the Merde. To read more of Stephen Clarke's introduction download the extract.

A 'piece of passion' from Heather Reyes, series editor of the Cit-Lit series:

'I’ve been in love with Paris since my very first visit as a teenager. In those pre-Eurostar days, it seemed an adventure just getting there — the slow, musty train down through Kent, struggling your luggage onto the ferry at Dover, the worry about the weather for ‘the crossing’ (would I need the Kwells?), watching the white cliffs recede and searching the horizon for the first glimpse of the French coast, the wind pulling your hair and putting salt on your lips. Then those magical letters, SNCF, on the side of the oddly high-up train from Calais, the long stop at Amiens and finally … finally …(the excitement overcoming the fatigue of the journey)…PARIS.

But, oh the relief of that first, fast, simple Eurostar journey! The exhilaration of knowing you could get THERE so quickly and easily. But still the same feeling, stepping onto the platform at Gare du Nord, of life moving into higher gear. That’s what Paris is to me — life lived more intensely, more vividly, both in the senses (that smell of strawberries from the stall at the foot of rue Moufftard) and in the mind (favourite bookshops … La Hune, Gibert Jeune, Shakespeare and Company, … the streets haunted by the ghosts of writers and philosophers past … Abelard, Montaigne, Diderot, Voltaire, Hugo, Balzac, Sartre, de Beauvoir, Camus …)

So, to have the opportunity of choosing and editing material for a collection of writing about the city was a dream come true, and I had the time of my life.'

To read more of Heather Reyes' 'piece of passion' download the extract.

You can also visit the Twitter page for this title by clicking here.

Synopsis

city-lit  Paris is the perfect city break guide to la vie parisienne. From Joanne Harris, Julian Barnes, Kate Mosse and Irène Némirovsky to Stephen Clarke, Gertrude Stein, Proust and Claude Izner, over seventy extraordinary writers provide the perfect Paris companion.

Reviews

‘Brilliant … The best way to get under the skin of a city is to read a novel, a short story, a poem set slap bang in the heart of things. This literary guide to Paris, with the best of contemporary and classic writing about the most elegant city of them all, Paris, is the perfect read for travellers and book lovers of all ages. And a fabulous way to expand anyone’s reading list!’ Kate Mosse, best-selling author of Sepulchre

‘For readers who don’t want to leave their minds at the airport.’ Celia Brayfield, novelist, journalist, and author of Deep France

‘It’s terrific ... all the best writing on this complex city in one place’ – Professor Andrew Hussey, author of Paris: The Secret History

‘A great range of writers, from Joanne Harris to Irène Némirovsky, Hans Christian Anderson to Edmund White. With thematic chapters headed ‘Le Menu’ and ‘Sex in the City,’ there should be something for everyone – an ideal gift’ – Travel Bookseller

'Great, eclectic ... and original' - Sylvia Whitman, Shakespeare & Co, Paris

'An essential guidebook ... it maps the Paris of the imagination beautifully' - Kate Muir, author of Left Bank

About the Author

More books by this author Author 'Like for Like' recommendation