If it is possible to secure The Paris Review - Interview with writers published by Penguin through the 1970's and 80's

The Paris Review is the best literary magazine around (even though they've rejected all of my stories). But anyway, the interview and stories are top notch. I love the blend of unknown writers and famous writers. This issue is especially good, for it's a concept issue, "New British Writing." The forum is excellent, with each author asked to give their opinion on, of course, the state of "British" literature. Furthermore, George Plimpton is very inspiring. Just reading an issue wants to make you write better or start your own magazine.

This is an amazing book. The memoirs of a simple American woman driven to heroism as many others during WW2 in Paris. A simple and unassuming personality, she certainly knows how to tell a story. It is gripping and it is impossible to put the book down.

I learned a lot about every day life in France at that time and although she never dwells on the horrific, you get a real sense of how terrible those times were.

I also adored her rather positive outlook on the people. We hear so often about the cowardness, indifference and downright brutality but she shows us that the French were also defiant, brave enough to face death every day....

I cannot recommend this book enough.
Oh ! I know that a lot of people who have read the book wonder what became of her and Kitty Beaurepos, her friend and principal actor in the drama. This is what i have found ... :

From the New York Times, December 25, 1948: "Mrs. Etta Kahn Shiber.....died yesterday at her residence, the Hotel Beacon, Broadway and 75th St, (NYC). She had never fully recovered from a fractured hip, suffered in a fall last summer. Her age was 70." There follows a brief history of her early years, and a five paragraph synopsis of the book Paris Underground.

Also there is a project of a play and a movie (with Winona Ryder) based on the book. Can`t wait...

I read this book some years ago but find it to be one that I continue to reflect on. It opened my eyes to the incredibly complex, yet simple workings of the Resistance, and how much "regular" people were willing to risk in order to have some means of fighting back.

Having read extensively on the military aspects of WWII-Europe, Paris Underground introduced me to the thrilling world of a completely different kind of soldier -- the resistance fighter. I never expected that a story about two Parisian women could grab and hold my attention so completely. Its was wonderful.

Paris Undergound is a fantastic book with lots of action, intrique, and pure and simple heroism. Thats one of the reasons it was selected as part of Time Life Books' collection: Classics of World War II.

Here's the perfect stocking stuffer for anyone with the capacity to both love literature and laugh at it. Millman takes off Polar explorers' death diaries, Krakauer's Everest, the Perfect Storm, the Lost Generation, the Bible -- well, you get it. No sacred cow goes unskewered. It's rare that a book makes me laugh out loud but this one did it!

Traveller Millman lucked out in the Middle East when he made a serendipitous discovery of some pages from God's daybook. Some pages they are, filled with self-doubt, miracle mixups, and mis-smotings. I, for one found this terribly reassuring.
He has put those pages together with others found in his world wandering (how do these things happen to the man?), among which are pages from an immensely inept but safely anonymous explorer; an unfortunate American in Gertrude Stein's Paris; a green-lighted filmmaker casting Brad Pitt as the Dalai Lama, among other too real send-ups; Attila's diary fragments that show the lad's vulnerability at the hands of his ill-tempered wife; and there is more!
A wonderful piece of comic work by a terrific writer who, even when he goes to the summit, does not go over the top.

Well, maybe not quite hidden, but for the first time visitors, it meant a lot to read about high points of interest. The humorous and sometimes irreverent tone of the Tripbuilder was appealing, and certainly more personal.

Perhaps the best advice was the tidbit about spending time at the top of the Samaritaine department store next to the Louvre. For the price of a glass of wine or capuccino, we marveled at the incredible panoramic view of the heart of Paris.

The book itself was extremely handy and fit perfectly in a jacket pocket or even a small purse. It was easy to use because points of interest were color-coded (even noted what would be interesting to children) and numbered for those who braved walking around this beautiful city. The more adventurous would surely find the quick reference guide to public transportation helpful.

Can't think of a better guide to take on a first-tour trip than the Tripbuilder. As we cover more cities, the Tripbuilder series is all the information we need.

We took this travel guide to Paris and it was the best one out of a handful of more expensive guides we took along. It contains names, descriptions and interesting facts of all the tourist places; tells you how to get there, and how much it costs. It has a handy color-coded metro map on the back cover as well as a fold-out street map at the center fold. All this in a small, purse-fitting size. It's the only travel guide you'll need to see all of Paris, and makes a great souvenir after you get home.

I found this book at our local library here in Albuquerque, and just had to own a copy. For anyone with an interest in Chopin, this book is an incredible gold mine of facts and details you won't find anywhere else, but Chopin is really only a small part of the wide-ranging subjects covered. Everyone who was anyone in Paris in the 1830s and '40s figures in this book, and people and events are also connected to the wider world of Europe and even America. The major composers, writers, artists, social reformers, politicians, and even doctors are covered. Nearly everything you might want to know about daily life in the first half of the 19th century is also described (will definitely cure you of any longing for the "good old days"....).

William Atwood is a dermatologist, and his descriptions of the medical thinking and practice of the time were especially interesting to me. As a holistic practitioner, I appreciated his discussion of the popularity of homeopathy in the 19th century. Chopin, of course, used homeopathy instead of the brutal methods of the allopathic doctors of his time, and seems to have been far better off than he would have been otherwise.

This book was a great help to me in clarifying Chopin's place in his time and adopted country. I expect to refer to it often.

What pleasure it is to be able to sit down and write a review of a truly enjoyable book such as this one. As I sit here typing I am listening to some music from one of the greatest composers of the 19th Century, Frederic Chopin. Fitting no less, as this book provides the reader with a guide through the City of Paris as seen and experienced by Chopin during his time there.

The author, William Atwood, has written two previous books on Chopin and in this third book he shows that he has a deep understanding for Chopin and his time. Covering the period from 1831 to 1849 Atwood covers all manner of subjects in his discussion of Paris, that beautiful city that seemed to produce some of the greatest artists in Europe. The author provides you with an insight into the social and artistic scene as well as some of the more interesting people, places and activities of Paris.

The book covers not only music and musicians but poets, writers, painters, the opera and theatre, medicine, bohemians, people of the street and how they all lived and survived during this turbulent period. The story just flows along smoothly and some of the stories are just amazing.

For instance when Paris decided to solve the sewage problem that tended to blot the city streets they changed the roadways contours from concave to convex allowing the swill and sewage to run off the roads into the new drainage system. The only problem with this was that not all the drains were properly covered and children often fell through the drains into the underground sewer system!

Another interesting little story in the chapter on medicine informs the reader that during the craze for bleeding as a form of combating illness that swept Paris during the early 1830's it was estimated that by 1833 Paris was importing 41.5 million leeches a year!

One of my favourite stories was the tragic tale of Alphonsine Plessis, the lady of the camellias, which can be found in the chapter regarding bohemians and demimondes (I don't want to spoil the story for anyone so you will have to buy the book and read it for yourself). According the Atwood the people of Paris still leave offerings of flowers on her tomb at the cemetery at Montmarte.

For anyone who loves good history, the arts or just a well-written book I am sure they will enjoy this story. In the pages you will find some of the greatest names in the world of the arts, Frederic Chopin, Eugene Delacroix, George Sand, Honore de Balzac, Hector Berlioz, Alexandre Dumas, Victor Hugo, Franz Liszt, and many many more. The book also provides numerous black and white illustrations showing Paris, its people and its buildings, during this time. This is a great story, an enjoyable read and an interesting piece of history.

Can attest that this is an excellent source for cheap and good paris hotels. Also new edition available published in UK in 1997. See amazon.co.uk search Paupers Paris or ISBN: 0330350226

I used this book from 1986 to 1995. For the most part, during that time interval the book was a gem providing information that generally isn't found in Lonely Planet guides etc. I keep hoping a new addition will come out. I've travelled during the above time period about two dozen times to Paris for business and pleasure, and found Turner's guide to be outstanding independent of your budget.

I just finished reading "The Phantom of Paris" and I absolutely loved it! I have read both Gaston Leroux's original novel, and Gwenith Vehlow's, and the similarities in style, characters, and emotions are undeniable. Ms. Vehlow brings back the best loved characters from the original novel, including the ever-bickering managers, Moncharmin and Richard, the mysterious Persian, the innocent little ballet girl, Meg, and the infamous diva, Carlotta. This book is full of gripping, intertwining sub-plots, exquisite descriptions, and a beautiful love story, not to mention a wonderful message of hope and an ending that will bring you to tears. A story of hate and love, revenge and justice, bitterness, forgiveness, and redemption, this is a must-read whether you are a die-hard "Phantom Phan," or simply someone like me who read it at the recommendation of a best friend. And by the way-lovely picture on the back, Gwen!

I really enjoyed this book as it had such vivid detail that I felt as though I was living it rather than just reading it. The words the author used to describe the feelings Christine and Erik have for each other made me feel as if I had known them and understood their relationship for a long time.

As tempted as I was to rush to the back of the book and read the ending to find out what happened, I resisted and read through the entire novel to see how things unfolded page by page.

I did read the whole book in one day, as it kept me intrigued as I read. I had other things to do but just couldn't put the book down until I found out how this mystery unfolded and how the love story concluded.

Kudos on such a well written book - especially by such a young (obviously very talented) woman!

The following is a review of 'Plaisir D'Amour' as full novel that is included in 'Passion d'Amour'...... this is a fabulous stand alone erotica novel and in the case of this author just getting your hands on a copy is difficult enough .....

Quote

Anne-Marie Villefranche's books have been published and re-published as stand alone novels, and, most vexingly as mutliple book novels such as this book Passion D'Amour, with, a new title that has a tendency to obscure the original titles. So, if your are like moi, an afficionado of erotica the chances are excellent that you will have multiple copies of this authors' book ..... that may be the bad news, but, the good news is that her books are fabulous enough that you'll always have a copy nearby to read when you want to while away solitary moments.

This book (Passion d'Amour) has two full novels....

1) Palisir d'Amour 2) Joi d'Amour

In 'Plaisir' the author takes us on a rollercoaster ride of 10 short stories with different characters, plots and settings. Each story of approximately 20 to 30 pages is so well written and so well developed that the reader does not feel cheated after finishing the story and demnding more. Each story has its own climax (so to say) and the characters are so well developed to make the tale viable.

The author very masterfully is able to tell a story without having to get into lengthly set-up before the story even begins. She does this by very deftly tying all the characters together as the sons, daughters, wives etc of a large well known and libidinous Parisienne family in the 1920's .... absolutely marvellous ....

To give you a flavour of the book, in the first story, Jeanne Takes A Lover' we find the young Christophe Brissard (some think this is the author's family) meeting the very married Jeanne Vernay (another well known Parisienne family) at a family dinner. Jeanne visits Christophe in his bedroom, after everyone went to bed, and our two lovers waste little time in tasting the fruits of the flesh. Jeanne however keeps warning Christophe that during his lovemaking he takes her to heights she has never been before and she is very scared. Their secret encounters continue while Christphe and jeanne slowly teach each other to let loose their inhibitions.

In 'Joie d'Amour' we find a similar number of scrumptios short stories. In 'A Lesson for Bernard' a young Bernard Gaillard meets a married Simone Lebrun at a Brissard family dinner. Since taking a lover is such a very very French thing to do Simone and Bernard eventually find themselves together in bed where
Simone is more intersted in using her hands to make love to Bernard than other parts of her body. Although she gives in to Bernards requirment to complete the sex act, Simone simply explains to him that this does not give her the ultimate
pleasure she yearns for, but, she would just rather play with him using her hands. The young Bernard is so disconcerted he seeks the advice of more learned friends to be able to reconcile Simones wants and wishes to his desire to continue the clandestine affair....

Wonderfull works of erotic literature I recommend any of Veillefranches book highly ....

This is the absolute best erotic book I've ever read.
It has just the right style of subtle, sophisticated arousal.

I loved this book, not only for it's gorgeous photographs, informative text, clear maps, but for the welcome inclusion of poetry and selections from French writers that help illuminate the magic of this wonderful city. This is a must have guide for anyone who wants to be swept away to Paris! (It is also conveniently sized to fit neatly into a pocketbook.)

This is a must-have book for all lovers of Paris. Thirza Vallois (Around & About Paris) has excelled with this stunning guide to the charms of Paris--some famous, some lesser-known, all sensual and charming. Along with practical information, Ms. Vallois provides reviews of the most romantic places to shop, dine and sleep, plus tales of the city's famous lovers and detailed walks (because the best way to dicover Paris is definitely on foot!) Juliana Spear's photography captures this fabulous city at its best and will have you packing your bags so you can see it for yourself.

You don't need to go to Paris with a lover to enjoy this book although, with all the sensual treats described within, you're certainly going to want one :-)

We went to many bookstores looking for a map of Paris. MY parner and I were going for the first time ever and had no clue what to expect. We went for 6 days and 5 nights. We thumbed thru about 100 different maps in total and purchased this one based on 3 things: it showed the street we were staying on, it divided the country into arrondisements (different districts) and it showed all the tourist spots!

The map was easy to read and through all our fighting over it and folding and unfolding, the map stayed in tact! It's also waterproof!

It was so worth the money! We got lost once when we travelled far off the map. But it really is the best map out there! We are keeping it for our next visit!

I found this guide to Paris an invaluable companion on my first trip to the city. Its detailed maps of the different quarters and breezy commentary was a great supplement to the simpler, heavily illustrated "Eyewitness" Guide I also used. The Rough Guide goes into greater detail, and has a lot more historical background, without being exhaustive like the famous "Blue Guide" series. It also has a good summary of the history of the city. The writing is winningly opinionated in places (declaring, for example, that the late 19th century realist paintings in the Musee D'Orsay are 'indigestible'), but doesn't seem demand that you agree with it. Maybe Paris just makes people opinionated in matters of taste. I'd recommend it for anybody who wants more than the tourist surface, but who doesn't want to be overwhelmed with too much background.