Paris: A Literary Anthology

by Zachary Seager

Take a literary stroll through the streets of Paris, visit its world-famous monuments, delve into its history and wander amongst its poets and artists.

Countless authors and poets have lived and worked in Paris and here are their first-hand accounts and personal reflections. Gustave Flaubert lived through the 1848 French Revolution and Edith Wharton witnessed mobilisation for the Great War. George Orwell describes gruelling work in the depths of Parisian kitchens, whilst American travel writer, F. Berkeley Smith, casts an amused eye over the city’s lavish restaurants. Honoré de Balzac gives us Parisian intellectuals and Pablo Picasso is guest of honour at Gertrude Stein’s salon.

From the taking of the Bastille to a bookshop visit by Ernest Hemingway, this anthology celebrates the places, the people and the history of the magical, vibrant city of Paris.

Genres: Fiction

256 pages, Paperback

Published April 16, 2024

Reviews

[Anna McKenzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this in the Arc du Triomphe gift shop in Paris at the beginning of the month and have been steadily making my way through this varied collection. My personal highlight was the inclusion of an extract from the journal of Marie Bashkirtseff, a daughter of Russian nobility who yearned to pursue her artistic sensibilities in Europe before her unfortunate untimely death at age 25 (who I'd never heard of). We may be separated by a gulf of time, technological advancement and social norms but the growing pains of teenage girls are ultimately universal!

"Wednesday June 25th: Re-read my diaries of 1875, 1876 and 1877. I complain in them of I know not what; I have aspirations towards something indefinite. Every evening I felt sore and discouraged, spending my strength in fury and despair in trying to find what to do. Go to Italy? Stop in Paris? Get married? Paint? What was to be done? If I went to Italy I couldn't be in Paris and I wanted to be everywhere at once!! What vigour there was in it all!!! As a man, I should have conquered Europe. Young girl as I was, I wasted it in excesses of language and silly eccentricities. Oh, misery!".

RIP Marie, you would've loved Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette :( x

[Karla Molinar arvizo · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.7

[Rita Prates · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Paris may change; my melancholy is fixed."

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think anthologies are my thing - bits of different texts, some more some less interesting, you can try it out and then decide if you want to read more. On top of that, they do go under one theme and in this case it is the city of lights - beautiful, a bit messy and chaotic but temtping at the same time. It was my preparation for my trip to Paris (I finished it though after that), and I enjoyed it immensly, and would love to read similar things about other cities I know well. A gripping trip around the city I have admired for a while now.

[Other Terrain · Rating 4 out of 5]

“There is a real place called Paris. You can go there, if you like.”

After spending a month immersed in all this Paris while watching the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic games earlier this year, the search to keep diving into French culture lingered. That is until a tiny little pink book appeared in my mailbox. Paris A Literary Anthology, edited by Zachary Seager, is an author and Francofile’s dream. Although flying to and experiencing the cobbled streets, baked treats and artistic creativity in person would be preferential, Seager’s compendium of authors and poets who have lived, worked and written in Paris allows the reader to travel back in time and meander alongside them...(to continue reading this review, go to https://www.otherterrainjournal.com.a...).

Thank you to Pan Macmillan for this early copy.

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought it at (the epic) Shakespeare and Company. Reading this anthology has given me a new lens through which to see Paris — I wish I could return and visit the spots mentioned by the authors and see them anew through their eyes

[Francisco Pereira · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the variety of texts and especially how many women writers were included. A surprise actually.

[Blaise Harman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adored

[Chinen Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

unfortunately a disjointed collection

[Josi · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Curiosity makes one lose more time in Paris than anywhere else.”

— Honoré de Balzac