The Only Street in Paris: Life on the Rue des Martyrs - Elaine Sciolino

The Only Street in Paris: Life on the Rue des Martyrs

By Elaine Sciolino

  • Release Date: 2015-11-02
  • Genre: Travel in Europe
Score: 4
4
From 44 Ratings

Description

A New York Times Bestseller

"Sciolino’s sharply observed account serves as a testament to…Paris—the city of light, of literature, of life itself." —The New Yorker

Elaine Sciolino, the former Paris Bureau Chief of the New York Times, invites us on a tour of her favorite Parisian street, offering an homage to street life and the pleasures of Parisian living. "I can never be sad on the rue des Martyrs," Sciolino explains, as she celebrates the neighborhood’s rich history and vibrant lives. While many cities suffer from the leveling effects of globalization, the rue des Martyrs maintains its distinct allure. On this street, the patron saint of France was beheaded and the Jesuits took their first vows. It was here that Edgar Degas and Pierre-Auguste Renoir painted circus acrobats, Emile Zola situated a lesbian dinner club in his novel Nana, and François Truffaut filmed scenes from The 400 Blows. Sciolino reveals the charms and idiosyncrasies of this street and its longtime residents—the Tunisian greengrocer, the husband-and-wife cheesemongers, the showman who’s been running a transvestite cabaret for more than half a century, the owner of a 100-year-old bookstore, the woman who repairs eighteenth-century mercury barometers—bringing Paris alive in all of its unique majesty. The Only Street in Paris will make readers hungry for Paris, for cheese and wine, and for the kind of street life that is all too quickly disappearing.

Reviews

  • Beautifully written, holds interest

    5
    By Carolxxx
    I selected this book because I love Paris, although I have never actually been there despite several European trips. I didn’t hold out much hope for this ebook, though, because I bought it on a sale. Many times I am disappointed by such books. However, once I read the first page I was hooked. I felt like I was on the street myself, I feel that I know the merchants. The writing is captivating — what a treat today.
  • The Only Street in Paris

    5
    By Joanabake
    As a longtime part time resident of France and a frequent visitor to Paris I was enchanted with this book. For me it evoked life in the village where I live,as well as bringing to life a real "ordinary " neighborhood in Paris.

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