The Flaneur: A Stroll through the Paradoxes of Paris

By Kayla St. James

"One has the impression, reading The Fl neur, of having fallen into the hands of a highly distractible, somewhat eccentric poet and professor who is determined to show you a Paris you wouldn't otherwise see...Edmund White tells such a good story that I'm ready to listen to anything he wants to talk about."--New York Times Book Review
A fl neur is a stroller, a loiterer, someone who ambles through city streets in search of adventure and fulfillment. Edmund White, who lived in Paris for sixteen years, wanders through the streets and avenues and along the quays, into parts of Paris virtually unknown to visitors and indeed to many Parisians. In the hands of the learned White, a walk through Paris is both a tour of its lush, sometimes prurient history and an evocation of the city's spirit. The Fl neur leads us to bookshops and boutiques, monuments and palaces, giving us a glimpse into the inner human drama. Along the way we learn everything from the latest debates among French lawmakers to the juicy details of Colette's life.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1582342121
• ISBN13: 9781582342122
• Release Date: April 2008
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.46 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.8" x 0.7" x 5.2"

Customer Reviews

Cruising Paris

Of course this isn't really about cruising. If it were it would be awfully boring, and this book is anything but boring. Even so, there is nothing quite so pleasurable as a stroll down almost any street in the French capital. Edmund white, who lived there for a long time, offers a distillation of his experience in this delightful little book. Reading it is almost as good as being there. Second best. Whie writes elegantly and...

Annoyed By Most Travel Books?

Edmund White gives a very different "travel book" in FLANEUR: A STROLL THROUGH THE PARADOXES OF PARIS. If you don't delight in books that compare prices of hotels and restaurants or books in which the author traces the difficulty of restoring and furbishing a fabulous villa all while beguiling and amusing the locals then White's book will offer you a refreshing alternative. Sixteen-year resident, White, offers a view of Paris...

Strolling through Paris

Flaneur is a French term for an aimless urban stroller. One in search of experience, not knowledge. Paris, says Edmund White, is ideal for this indulgence. Unlike sprawling New York, for example, almost every Paris street alluringly turns seamlessly into the next. I found one of the best strolls described led to tha Marais, a district untouched by Baron Haussman's reconstruction of Paris under Napleon 3rd in 1869, which...

The Outcasts

This book is as much about people who don't fit in as it is about Paris: african-american ex-patriates, jews, gays, poets and artists, Paris has given safe harbor over the decades to those who found drawing a breath elsewhere painful. Paris of course is not without its faults, its political and social incorrectness, but Edmund White describes the city in such a way that you can't help but want to retrace his steps and visit...

Every traveller's dream.......

Edmund White has done it again. He has created the first (in what seems to be a series) guided tour of a great city which focuses on the idiosyncrases, particular flavor, befuddling history and ultimate addicting charm of Paris. This is as close as it gets to walking along side an established scholar and join him in the role of "Flaneur" - one who meanders without prejudice through the backways of a great city, just for...