5 books to read in Paris

Patricia Harris for the boston globe

Writers have loved Paris for centuries; taste their honeyed words and you will, too.

1

“A MOVEABLE FEAST’’

Ernest Hemingway’s recollections of American expat life in Paris in the 1920s sketch bars, cafes, and hotels still central to the myths of the City of Light.

2

“PARIS FRANCE’’

Gertrude Stein’s stream-of-

consciousness account shows how to eat, drink, cross the street, and dress French.

Wrote Stein, “Paris is where

the 20th century was.’’

3

“LIFE WITH PICASSO’’

Françoise Gilot met Pablo

Picasso in Paris in 1943.

Her book captures the artistic ferment of the city during

the German occupation and

immediate postwar era.

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4

“THE FLÂNEUR’’

Edmund White plays the flâneur — a seemingly aimless wanderer with a keen eye

for observation — in this

alternative guide that ranges from gay Paris to a history

of black Americans there.

5

“LES MISÉRABLES’’

Forget the musical and mine Victor Hugo’s original novel

for a sweeping and detailed sense of old Paris.

PATRICIA HARRIS

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