On Paris

by Ernest Hemingway

Written for the Toronto Star between 1920 and 1924, this selection of energetic pieces from Hemingway sees the author focus his gaze on Paris. Writing with characteristic verve, the author tackles cultural topics in chapters such as Living on $1,000 a Year in Paris, American Bohemians in Paris, and Parisian Boorishness. "The scum of Greenwich Village, New York, has been skimmed off and deposited in large ladles on that section of Paris adjacent to the Café Rotonde. New scum, of course, has risen to take the place of the old, but the oldest scum, the thickest scum and the scummiest scum," Hemingway wryly observes, "has come across the ocean, somehow, and with its afternoon and evening levees has made the Rotonde the leading Latin Quarter showplace for tourists in search of atmosphere."

Genres: Classics, Nonfiction, France, Travel, Memoir, Literature, American

71 pages, Paperback

First published April 28, 2008

About the author

Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Best known for an economical, understated style that significantly influenced later 20th-century writers, he is often romanticized for his adventurous lifestyle, and outspoken and blunt public image. Most of Hemingway's works were published between the mid-1920s and mid-1950s, including seven novels, six short-story collections and two non-fiction works. His writings have become classics of American literature; he was awarded the 1954 Nobel Prize in Literature, while three of his novels, four short-story collections and three nonfiction works were published posthumously.
Hemingway was raised in Oak Park, Illinois. After high school, he spent six months as a cub reporter for The Kansas City Star before enlisting in the Red Cross. He served as an ambulance driver on the Italian Front in World War I and was seriously wounded in 1918. His wartime experiences formed the basis for his 1929 novel A Farewell to Arms. He married Hadley Richardson in 1921, the first of four wives. They moved to Paris where he worked as a foreign correspondent for the Toronto Star and fell under the influence of the modernist writers and artists of the 1920s' "Lost Generation" expatriate community. His debut novel The Sun Also Rises was published in 1926.
He divorced Richardson in 1927 and married Pauline Pfeiffer. They divorced after he returned from the Spanish Civil War, where he had worked as a journalist and which formed the basis for his 1940 novel For Whom the Bell Tolls. Martha Gellhorn became his third wife in 1940. He and Gellhorn separated after he met Mary Welsh Hemingway in London during World War II. Hemingway was present with Allied troops as a journalist at the Normandy landings and the liberation of Paris. He maintained permanent residences in Key West, Florida, in the 1930s and in Cuba in the 1940s and 1950s. On a 1954 trip to Africa, he was seriously injured in two plane accidents on successive days, leaving him in pain and ill health for much of the rest of his life. In 1959, he bought a house in Ketchum, Idaho, where, on July 2, 1961 (a couple weeks before his 62nd birthday), he killed himself using one of his shotguns.

Reviews

[Quirkyreader · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was Hemingway’s slice of life from Paris during the interwar years. His dispatches to the Toronto Star were rather entertaining.

This book is a good companion piece to “The Moveable Feast.”

[Alan (the Lone Librarian rides again) Teder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hemingway's Paris Dispatches
Review of the Hesperus Press Ltd. paperback edition (2010) of a selection of articles from the full collection Dateline Toronto: The Complete Toronto Star Dispatches 1920-24 (Scribners 1985)

Intro I'm currently working on reviews for Hemingway's A Moveable Feast (1964) & its Estonian language translation Pidu sinus eneses (Estonian: A Feast Within Yourself) (1965) and was going to link to some related books, this being one of them. I then found my GR review was missing, but I've resurrected it now with my notes from LibraryThing.

Review
On Paris is an anthology selection of 29 articles from the years 1922 to 1923 out of the total of 172 articles written by Ernest Hemingway for the Toronto Star between 1920 to 1924. The complete collection of 172 articles was printed as the book Dateline: Toronto (1985) by Scribners and is currently out of print, but can be found at reasonable prices as a used book at the usual internet sources or as an eBook. William White is listed as the editor for Dateline: Toronto and should probably get the same credit for On Paris.

These 29 articles deal with subjects specifically related to Paris and France though, and, as such, this is an excellent companion book for fans of Hemingway's late period A Moveable Feast (1964 - issued posthumously) Paris memoir or the early short story collections such as in our time (the 1924 vignettes only version) or "In Our Time (the expanded 1925 edition with the 1924 vignettes and added short stories version) as it gives you a further view of what he was writing about Paris at the same time as he was actually living there and what non-fiction news reporting he was doing while he was learning his craft as a fiction writer.

Many of the articles are written with a humorous view and incorporate dialogue as well, so that they are not all standard reporting and are somewhat closer to his vignette-type of scene settings and descriptions. By vignettes I mean the short mostly one-paragraph interludes between the standard short stories in the later In Our Time edition.

There are no additional materials or commentaries provided to add any further context to the articles in On Paris. The book is only 68 pages of newspaper article texts, so it is not great value for money, especially at its list price of $57.66 U.S. (current 2023 price for a new copy on Amazon, but used copies are listed at $12.70 U.S.). If you are able to get the complete Dateline: Toronto for a reasonable used price, then you would have the entire On Paris collection as well.

I'd rate this a 5 for its Hemingway Paris/Moveable Feast connection and interest value for Papaphiles, but mark it down to a 4 due to the slim content and value-for-money.

Trivia
The Table of Contents for On Paris. The titles and descriptions are as listed in Dateline: Toronto:

LIVING ON $1,000 A YEAR IN PARIS
A Canadian With One Thousand a Year Can Live Very Comfortably and Enjoyably in Paris
The Toronto Star Weekly, February 4, 1922

POINCARÉS FOLLY
France Now in Hands of Old Professionals
The Toronto Daily Star, February 4, 1922

CLEMENCEAU POLITICALLY DEAD
Builder, Not Fighter, Is What France Wants
The Toronto Daily Star, February 18, 1922

PARIS IS FULL OF RUSSIANS
Influx of Russians to All Parts of Paris
The Toronto Daily Star, February 25, 1922

PAPAL POLL: BEHIND THE SCENES
Behind the Scenes at Papal Election
The Toronto Star Weekly, March 4, 1922

WIVES BUY CLOTHES FOR FRENCH HUSBANDS
Wives Buy Clothes for French Husbands
The Toronto Star Weekly, March 11, 1922

POINCARÉ'S ELECTION PROMISES
Poincarè Making Good on Election Promises
The Toronto Daily Star, March 11, 1922

SPARROW HAT ON PARIS BOULEVARDS
Sparrow Hat Appears on Paris Boulevards
The Toronto Star Weekly, March 18, 1922

BLACK NOVEL A STORM CENTER
Prize-Winning Book Is Centre of Storm
The Toronto Star Weekly, March 25, 1922

AMERICAN BOHEMIANS IN PARIS
American Bohemians in Paris a Weird Lot
The Toronto Star Weekly, March 25, 1922

WILD NIGHT MUSIC OF PARIS
Wild Night Music of Paris Makes Visitor Feel a Man of the World
The Toronto Star Weekly, March 25, 1922

THE MECCA OF FAKERS
The Mecca of Fakers in French Capital
The Toronto Daily Star, March 25, 1922

M. DEIBLER, A MUCH-FEARED MAN
Much-Feared Man Is Monsieur Deibler
The Toronto Daily Star, April 1, 1922

95,000 WEAR THE LEGION OF HONOR
95,000 Now Wearing the Legion of Honor
The Toronto Daily Star, April 1, 1922

ACTIVE FRENCH ANTI-ALCOHOL LEAGUE
Anti-Alcohol League Is Active in France
The Toronto Daily Star, April 8, 1922

PARISIAN BOORISHNESS
French Politeness
The Toronto Star Weekly, April 15, 1922

A VETERAN VISITS THE OLD FRONT
A Veteran Visits Old Front, Wishes He Had Stayed Away
The Toronto Daily Star, July 22, 1922

SINCLAIR LEWIS'S HORSEBACKING
Expecting Too Much in Old London Town
The Toronto Star Weekly, August 5, 1922

THE GREAT "APÉRITIF" SCANDAL
Latest Drink Scandal Now Agitates Paris
The Toronto Star Weekly, August 12, 1922

DID POINCARÉ LAUGH IN VERDUN CEMETERY?
Did Poincare Laugh in Verdun Cemetery?
The Toronto Daily Star, August 12, 1922

RUG VENDORS IN PARIS
Rug Vendor Is Fixture in Parisian Life
The Toronto Daily Star, August 12, 1922

HOMES ON THE SEINE
Takes to the Water, Solves Flat Problem
The Toronto Daily Star, August 26, 1922

A PARIS-TO-STRASBOURG FLIGHT
A Paris-to-Strasbourg Flight Shows Living Cubist Picture
The Toronto Daily Star, September 9, 1922

THE FRANCO-GERMAN SITUATION
A Victory Without Peace Forced the French to Undertake the Occupation of the Ruhr
The Toronto Daily Star, April 14, 1923

FRENCH ROYALIST PARTY
French Royalist Party Most Solidly Organized
The Toronto Daily Star, April 18, 1923

GOVERNMENT PAYS FOR NEWS
Government Pays for News in French Papers
The Toronto Daily Star, April 21, 1923

GARGOYLES AS SYMBOL
Is France's Present Attitude Toward Germany Symbolized in the Gargoyles of Notre Dame?
The Toronto Star Weekly, November 17, 1923

EUROPEAN NIGHTLIFE: A DISEASE
Night Life in Europe a Disease: Constantinople's Most Hectic
The Toronto Star Weekly, December 15, 1923

CHRISTMAS IN PARIS
The Toronto Star Weekly, December 22, 1923

[Luís · Rating 3 out of 5]

The city of Paris is undeniably one unlike any other. Great artists, including Ernest Hemingway and Woody Allen, have come to the city of lights and been entranced by its endless beauty and classic sights.

[Kathleen Valentine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of all the books I own the one that gets taken down and re-read the most is Ernest Hemingway's A Moveable Feast. I pretty much learned everything good about writing, about creating atmosphere and mood, from that book. For that reason I was excited to see that Hesperus books has released a volume titled On Paris by Ernest Hemingway. It is a small volume, just 80 pages, collecting the young Ernest Hemingway's dispatches to the Toronto Star between March 1922 and December 1923. Some short, some longer, all of them filled with the young journalists beginnings as a writer.

The key to appreciating Hemingway's style in these early years is in recognizing the dry, droll humor. It seems sometimes that he is the only sane man in a lunatic asylum but he has chosen to report on whatever happens as accurately as possible. A Moveable Feast was written forty years later than the articles in On Paris and, in it, we see the seasoned old giant looking back on the eager young man he once was. But in On Paris the author is that eager young man and everything about him seems strangely wonderful.


My favorite of the articles is Rug Vendors in Paris. Complaining about the inevitability of being accosted by a rug vendor while enjoying a coffee at an outdoor café he advocates periodic outbursts of screaming "Death to robbers and rug vendors!" but recognizes they will probably not take that seriously. In the conversation that follows, arguing with a rug vendor, the dialog style, that became so typical of the later novels, is crisp, clean and hilarious.

Some of the articles delve in to the mysteries of French politics and the growing tensions (between the two World Wars) with Germany. In an essay on gargoyles he makes note of the particularly nasty gargoyles on high towers that, despite having been created some centuries before, all seem to glare in the direction of Germany.

He also takes on shocking offenses against Parisian society, did Pioncaré laugh in Verdun cemetery, and the great apéritif scandal, which happened during a particularly festive July 14th celebration. It seems an "unbalanced young Communist took a shot at and missed a prefect of police by mistake for M. Poincaré and the patriotic crowd mobbed him. Everyone agreed that M. Poincaré's life was undoubtedly saved by the Fourteenth of July because who could be expected to hit anyone they had shot at after such a night as all Paris had just spent." This had little to do with the actual scandal which only manifested days later when everyone sobered up and realized that the many signs advertising apéritifs hanging over the cafés had been paid for by the government and it just seemed wrong that the government should promote the distilleries in the process of creating such a grand celebration. "There is a fearful scandal on," Hemingway concludes, "and the inquiry about the apéritif signs still continues."


I had to stop myself from reading the book all at once because the stories were so entertaining. In one article he discusses feminine fashion and the fad of ladies wearing hats with sparrows on them. In another he questions why the working men of Paris tolerate wearing such dreadful clothes just because their wives bought them. The men admit that the female domination of working men has to stop but, unfortunately, there is a daunting issue - these same women are such excellent cooks it is rather hard to stand up to them.

One of the most purely Hemingway essays in the collection is about one M. Deibler who lives in a comfortable Paris suburb among neighbors who respect and admire him for his jovial personality and neighborliness. They know he works for the government and, when M. Deibler is called away for a few days on business, they keep his wife company and await his return. What they do not know is that M. Deibler is the official executioner of Paris and is often required to pack up his portable guillotine and travel to some other town to attend to business. Well, you can imagine the rest.

This is such an entertaining little book. In it Hemingway is never more Hemingway-ish and that is a non-stop delight.

[Tosh · Rating 3 out of 5]

An iconic writer writing about an iconic city at an iconic time of history. But nevertheless this is not an essential book by Ernest Hemingway, but an interesting one because he captures the world of Paris in a series of snapshots. For some, the political history will be obscure, but one does feel the excitement of living in a foreign land at that time.

The mixture of French politics, cultural news, and daily life is a nice mixture for this book. All the pieces are actual articles that he wrote for a Canadian paper - and some are very short, and then there are others that are two or three pages long. For me the main strength of the book is when he covers the daily life of a Parisian. For whatever reasons I was charmed about the lack of good manners of Parisians on public transportations, such as the bus. Also he politely rages against the American visitor or tourist in Paris. It sort of reminds me of the boring issue of 'hipsters' in a community. Everything stays the same except for architecture, decay, and wars.

[Samuel]

70 pages. What I have to say about Paris can also be summed up briefly

[Frederik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lille ferm samling af avisartikler af den på daværende tidspunkt fuldstændig ukendte amerikansk journalist Ernest Hemingway og hans sylespidse betragtninger om fransk indenrigspolitik og parisernes legendariske arrogance fra sin tid i start-1920'ernes brølende "Gay Paris". Man fornemmer antrækket til noget stort, men det er trods alt ikke hverken "Og solen går sin gang" eller "Farvel til våbnene".

[Manuel Sanchez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Travel stories, tips and suggestions about visiting Paris for 1922 readers in the USA and Canada, post World War I and post 1917 Russian Revolution. The time frame and insights are wonderful - its like taking a peek through a hole in time of a chaotic France dealing with war refugees, Russian upper class/royalty working in restaurants, American "B" list artists and athletes passing as "stars", and adventurers scammed and robbed by savvy locals. Wonderfully written and has quickly become one of my favorite Hemingway collections.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ernest Hemingway is one of my favourite writers. I have loved his unique style since I read 'A Farewell to Arms' a few years ago so it was a great experience to be able to read his early writing when he was a journalist writing for 'The Toronto Star' between 1920 and 1924.

It's fascinating the see how much his style has changed. Also to see him using very overt humour in his writing (something he doesn't commonly do in his novels) There are 29 articles ranging from a few paragraphs to a few pages all of them relatively short, as you would expect from newspaper articles, ranging from the best places for nightlife to the latest political scandal. Hemingway also writes a good deal about French people and common tendencies among them such as strong political ideas and a respect for the dead.

I only read one article which showed his terse style of writing which became his trademark the rest I wouldn't have guessed it was Hemingway at all.

A must read for fans of Hemingway as it gives a really excellent insight into how his writing develops and his early life in 1920s Paris.

[Alex Pler · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Había intentado reconstruir el pasado para mi mujer y había sido un completo fracaso. El pasado está tan muerto como un disco de vinilo roto. Perseguir ayeres es un mal plan, y si necesita comprobarlo, regrese a su antiguo frente."

[Lila · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of newspaper articles written by Hemingway for The Toronto Star 1922-23. A couple of themes are French politics, particularly the desire to punish Germany post-WWI and the artificial nature of tourist experiences of Paris.

[Matthias Wieser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ich war immer schon ein großer Paris-Fan, nachdem ich Hemingway gelesen habe, gibt es für mich keine andere Stadt in der ich lieber wohnen möchte.

[Pauline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best ever.

[Laurent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written, nice documentary reading on Hemingways life.

[Angel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Artículos publicados en The Toronto Star 1922-1923

Flojo. Únicamente tiene interés por su descripción del Paris de entonces

[Laila-Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this very interesting, if you liked A Moveable Feast I would recommend this work which is a series of newspaper articles all put together. I wasn't sure what rating to give this book and maybe scored it a bit low but it didn't grip me as much as other things have. Maybe because it's quite bitty and feels a bit like a historical document more than a book? But definitely worth a read.

[Michael Percy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of journalistic pieces was written for the Toronto Star in the early 1920s and focus on Paris. Hemingway's early work here is part travel writer and part gossip columnist. The style would seem out of place today and, from personal experience, editors are only to ready to "correct" such work written in the "your correspondent" third person. It is a shame, in that Hemingway's style is very readable and rather witty. I doubt articles written about a foreign city would be of interest today, but at the time, many North Americans were keen on the exchange rate with France and Paris, of course, was a major destination. Moreover, I doubt that the "Orientalist" approach to reporting on foreign countries would be so readily apply to today's France, although destinations that still remain "foreign" to most Westerners may receive this treatment as a matter of course. This is a short but fruitful read and I was particularly impressed by the format and the cover, which makes for a robust yet accessible paperback style. I rarely comment on this aspect of a book but the cover style is remarkable.

[WIlliam Gerrard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This very brief work is a collection of Hemingway's writings as a foreign correspondent for the Toronto Star. The author's bright prose lights up what I believe to be the most fantastic city on earth, during the turbulent times of the 1920s. Paris was in a post-Versailles dilemma, the politicians fighting for German reparations and dangerously questing into the Ruhr valley. Hemingway vibrantly details the glamorous life in the French capital. The post-absinthe hedonism, the cafe culture, the nightlife of the Moulin Rouge. He contrasts the French joie de vivre with that of other European capitals and with a flamboyant passion for Paris, he brings to life this exotic city for all his readers.

[Toon]

Somewhere I read of Hemingway describing his walks in Paris, visiting cafés, writing there. I don't know in which story, though I remember the place where I lived and the bench where I read it. The atmosphere sticked to me of the luxury of sitting in a beautiful place with a drink alone with the mind wandering at will, tasting the freedom to enjoy its power. All worry about poverty seems so puny in the middle of this enormous richness of the now, on the edge of history, with a world that has never been more modern in all its directions.

[Rissie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting collection of articles written for The Toronto Star by an up and coming Ernest Hemingway. Most of the articles are about Paris and Parisians, but there are some that deal with French politics and the aftermath of WWI. (Hemingway is the only author I know of who can pine for a war torn village after seeing that said village has been rebuilt.)

There is not too much in here that is new or revealing, but it is interesting to read some of his early work.

[Sanj · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a bunch of newspaper articles that Hemingway wrote for the Toronto Star in 1922 & 1923.

From that standpoint, it is very limited in scope. However, it is an enjoyable quick read and provides a glimpse into the events that were of importance at that time. Some comments, discussions, and observations are still relevant today, while others have aged pretty badly.

[Carole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting so far. A collection of Hemingway's newspaper columns in the 1920s. Engaging...not earth shattering.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now I want to read Batouala...

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Ernest Hemingway and I love Paris. So this was lovely.

[Brian Page · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a little book consisting of Hemingway's dispatches from Paris to The Toronto Star in the early 1920s. The writing is pure Hemingway: incisive, pithy, and humorous.

[Christopher Roden · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating insight into the Paris of 1922.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great writings about Paris in the past