I'll Always Have Paris: A Memoir

by Art Buchwald

"ART BUCHWALD DOES IT AGAIN. . . . A GREAT READ."
--Larry King, USA Today

In 1948, an American innocent named Art Buchwald set sail for Paris, France, determined to crash Hemingway's moveable feast and make himself famous. What's more, he did it.

Now he remembers those golden years--when he wrote for the Paris Herald Tribune, fell in love, spoofed Hemingway, dined with gangsters, and crashed costume balls in Venice. Everything that has made Buchwald one of the world's best-loved writers is in this funny, enchanting, poignant book.

"HONEST AND MOVING . . . A CONSUMMATE STORYTELLER."
--The New York Times Book Review

"ROLLICKING . . . The book gallops and gambols along. . . . Buchwald is a master of the anecdote."
--The Baltimore Sun

Genres: Memoir, France, Nonfiction, Travel, Biography Memoir, Humor, Biography

264 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

American humorist best known for his long-running column of political satire and commentary that he wrote in The Washington Post, which was syndicated in over 500 newspapers. He wrote more than 30 books. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Outstanding Commentary in 1982. In 1991 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Obituary at The Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/...

Columns at The Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/...

Reviews

[BarbaraW · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice little book about Art's adventures as s young journalist in the 40s and 50s in Europe and Paris specifically. Some parts made me giggle!

[Abigail Stella · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a lovely and romantic read. Romantic in a sense that his writing makes you feel like you are in Paris. You can feel the streets and understand that magic that exists around Paris

[Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. Miss him!

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

In breezy fashion, Buchwald recalls his time as a newspaper columnist and gadabout in Paris during the years 1949-1962. A nice read, despite his smarmy name-dropping and vague stink of douche-baggery (“lemme tell you about the time I was Gina Lollabrigida’s date on a yacht party hosted by Ari Onassis and his brother.”)

[Chuck Morgan]

Art Buchwald's account of his 14 years in Paris is a poignant and self-revealing look at the man who went in search of his identity in Paris, and yet his identity found him instead. As a young and inexperienced writer, Buchwald left the US in 1948 to pursue his dream of being a foreign correspondent, with visions of following in the footsteps of Ernest Hemingway and others that went before him.

The book covers his 14 years in post-war Paris, where he met his future wife, who was also a journalist. Art did not have a grasp of the French language at the time, yet he somehow managed to get by in Paris, successfully getting himself invited to major social events, hobnobbing with the famous, and eventually meeting his hero, Hemingway, in a chance encounter that did not go as well has he had hoped.

Art relished the cafe lifestyle of Paris in those days, where one could hang out waiting for the famous and the want-to-be famous would both pass by, sometimes only just to be seen. He eventually wrote for the Herald Tribune and become one of its most famous columnists.

Art wss a fantastic spinner of tales, and always has a wry edge about him. I was an avid reader of his work as a child in the 60's, after his return to the US and becoming an syndicated newspaper columnist. His social commentary always made me laugh, and would brighten an otherwise drab day of my 6th grade studies. If you can imagine a 12 year old choosing the editorial section of his dad's daily newspaper over the comics so that he could read what Art Buchwald had to say about Nixon, the Vietnam war, Congress, and all other hot topics of the 60's and 70's, then that was me in a nutshell.

Upon returning from a trip of my own abroad to Paris in 2001, I by chance in encountered this book and read it. It made me want to return to Paris to re-visit the places mentioned in the book and also experience that same post-war Paris of Buchwald's book. I planned my own return to that great city, and did manage to make it back in 2008 to Paris during a whirlwind visit of Northern Europe. Of course the old charm was gone, replaced by the bustle of modern Parisians rushing about talking on cell phones.
As I dined outdoors on the Champs De Elysee on that trip, I still felt some of that Buchwald humour inside of me. As in Buchwald's case, everything that happened to me in Paris did not turn out exactly like I planned but instead turned out to be a poignant learning experience that I can cherish forever. From the fervent attempts to catch a subway to the right side of Paris, to the long trek up to Montemarte, the top of Paris, I can say that my walks in Paris made me yearn to retrace Buchwald's foot steps just like Buchwald himself wanted to do the same for his hero, Hemingway.

Reading Buchwald's book and then completing my own brief return to Paris to me completed the cycle of knowledge that I look for in my literary quests. Although Art has long since passed on, his take on life is with me daily, as I strive many times to imitate his style and wit in my own prose.

[Jon Ziomek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Writing about entertainment and culture in Paris in the 1950s could be considered a dream job. It apparently was for Art Buchwald, who certainly had fun in that decade. Being relatively familiar with Paris, I enjoyed being able to identify locations he described. But ... there's something out-of-date about this book and Mr. Buchwald's anecdotes. Maybe it's because journalism and the world have changed so much since then.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked "The Brave Coward," a collection of columns from his Paris days, a bit better, but this is a fun book about, if not a charmed life, a charmed 15 or so years of it. I had no idea that Buchwald functioned at least part of the time as a showbiz writer, interviewing European and American stars who came to town. It was trivial stuff, but now comes with a coating of nostalgia for a much sunnier moment in history.

[Linda Hanson]

I listened to the audiobook and that was a mistake. It was read by Art Buchwald himself and he was terribly hard to understand. I returned it to audible for a refund because it was just not good. His stories are interesting, they just should have had a professional narrator tell them.

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

I discovered his books while working a very stressful job. I always kept a few in my desk for lunch time.

His unique view of the world and politics especially, really helped me through stressful days.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author is a terrific writer and the book is filled with wonderful anecdotes, both real and imagined. He tells stories in six lines, for which other writers would have required ten paragraphs. However, be prepared for an ever present layer of sadness.

[Kathy England · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm heading to Paris for the first time soon, and this book was recommended in the Rick Steve's guide. I'm not a celebrity follower, and Buchwald liked dropping names, but it was funny and interesting.

[Mieke Zylstra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like a brain transcript of someone with ADHD ... even after (surely) a LOT of work/editing/proofreading from the publishing staff. Some fun reflections of Paris and the French, but the parts about his relationship and marriage were so ... not romantic. It could not have been easy for her.

[Phillip Boyd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audio book was hard to listen to at first because of Art’s accent, but enjoyed his tales of a time before. His frame of thinking is outdated in ways and he was a flawed man, but it was an interesting memoir.

[Shanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

An awesome memoir. What an interesting and amusing man. Fun read and can tell a lot about his personality by the way he writes.

[LeeTravelGoddess · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a cute lil book; Art is silly.

[Cyndi Berve]

Paris & other places in Europe, Buchwald's dry humor & great stories. How did I miss this book from 1996?

[Joanne Hardwick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it
The dedication alone brought tears to my eyes.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unlike many of Buchwald's books which are collections of previous columns, this book was written as a memoir of his early reporting days as a columnist and reporter with Paris-based Herald Tribune. The details the start of Buchwald's career, his courtship and marriage to Ann Buchwald, the adoption of their three children and all the games, glitter and tomfoolery found in 14 years of his life through the 50s and early 60s.

There are classic stories, sentimental journeys and comedic episodes found through out the book and the text flowed very smoothly as you followed Buchwald's journeys, his many foreign contacts and his family life in Paris.

Very good read.

[Genevieve · Rating 3 out of 5]

A breezy book with anecdotes of his years in Paris. I really enjoyed the beginning when he was living on nothing, and finding ways to make money and enjoying this wonderful period in the post-war era when a lot of people were making it up as he went along. There was something rather poignant in the small moments between all the glitzy jet-setting he did, where he would admit to disappointment, or acknowledging things didn't go as he planned. (He touched a bit on his battle with depression and how it affected his marriage and life.) The book has a quality of being like someone telling you amusing and sad stories in a bar late at night over drinks.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this enough to want to read his first memoir, Leaving Home.
Some great stories here...more later...but rather too many stories toward the end and not enough memoir.
He is a very likeable, even lovable, guy, despite his fixation on fame, which is totally understandable once you read his first memoir.
I want to read his wife Ann's story of their life together. He recommends it. They met in Paris, were eventually divorced (after adopting 3 kids) and then reunited late in her life. I don't think they ever fell out of love, even though they may have fallen out of like.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Art Buchwald lived and wrote in Paris when I was in high school about 60 miles away. It felt like he was one of the family and we always kept up with his column. For these reasons, this was a special book to me. I have enjoyed his autobiography and other books too. He spoke at our high school graduation and was presented with an honorary high school diploma fro Orleans American High as he never finished school. He remains on our class roll today.

[Francoise · Rating 2 out of 5]

I remember reading and enjoying Mr. Buchwald's columns in my younger days. I was expecting something along these lines, but this book is strictly a memoir and not anything like his articles. There was too much name dropping and "funny" stories that just seemed to not be very funny because I didn't know the context of the story. I would only recommend to those who wanted to know more about Art Buchwald.

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a memoir of Buchwald's time in Paris as a young journalist. it is funny and informative and geives you a flavor of the times. both in Paris and America. I was fortunate to have Buchwald sign it in May of 2005, at Brown University. He became very ill and died shortly after.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Until read this book I was unaware that Buchwald had spent 14 years in Paris and launched his career in print. He has a lot of great stories about celebs of the 1950s and 60s. His tribute to his wife is touching.

[Cindy Lofgren · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was a choppy read. The author went for zingers and it just didn't flow for me. Major name-dropping involved, but he lets you know early in the book that there will be a lot of that. This man lived quite an exciting life.

[Bimbo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a name-dropping memoir of Buchwald's formative years in Paris interspersed with follies of this funny and loveable rascal. However, I missed his critical sting one finds in his latter columns.

[Ali shaker · Rating 1 out of 5]

i just like it

[Althea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great memoir with celebrity gossip about Art Buchwald's fourteen years of living in Paris. I'm also going to read his wife's book to see her version of the Paris years with Art. Very enjoyable.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Art Buchwald always made me laugh. This book is especially funny and one of my favorites.

[Tommyb]

Humor,Memoir