Paris Without Her: A Memoir

by Gregory Curtis

In this moving, tender memoir of losing a beloved spouse, the longtime editor of Texas Monthly, newly widowed, returns alone to a city whose enchantment he's only ever shared with his wife, in search of solace, memories, and the courage to find a way forward.

At the age of sixty-six, after thirty-five years of marriage, Gregory Curtis finds himself a widower. Tracy--with whom he fell in love the first time he saw her--has succumbed to a long battle with cancer. Paralyzed by grief, agonized by social interaction, Curtis turns to watching magic lessons on DVD--"a pathetic, almost comical substitute" for his evenings with Tracy.

To break the spell, he returns to the place he had the "best and happiest times" of his life. As he navigates the storied city and contemplates his new future, Curtis relives his days in Paris with Tracy, piecing together the portrait of a woman, a marriage, parenthood, and his life's great love through the memories of six unforgettable trips to the City of Lights.

Alone in Paris, Curtis becomes a tireless wanderer, exploring the city's grand boulevards and forgotten corners as he confronts the bewildering emotional state that ensues after losing a life partner. Paris Without Her is a work of tremendous courage and insight--an ode to the lovely woman who was his wife, to a magnificent city, and to the self we might invent, and reinvent, there.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Travel, Audiobook, Autobiography, Biography, Biography Memoir

256 pages, Hardcover

Published April 20, 2021

Reviews

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gregory Curtis, who I know as an editor with Texas Monthly, tells the story of his life with his beloved wife during the times they spent together in Paris.

Knopf has always been one of my benchmarks for Brilliant Writing, so I'm afraid I was expecting that and instead got Good Enough. Still, it was a trip to Paris through the eyes of a clever fellow, and I think I'll be satisfied with that.

Favorite quote: "What we expected from Paris was the summation of everything beautiful and civilized infused with romance. And now here we were in the real Paris, and the real Paris turned out to be even more beautiful than we had thought it would be, more intoxicating, more romantic, and bursting with exciting possibilities that were inconceivable elsewhere."

Curtis, Gregory. Paris Without Her (p. 36). Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a struggle. I didn't find the author, or his late wife, in any way sympathetic and barely cared what happened in the story trajectory. I did find out some new places to visit in Paris so I'm grateful for that. But to say they don't have money to travel to Paris often and then they do quite frequently seemed a bit off to me. I just didn't really like it but can't totally put my finger on exactly why.

[Marie]

Hard pass!! A pity party from a sad man who sat behind a desk so long he thinks it’s an act of courage to go to Paris by himself! Rich white woman who kills herself and gives her children asthma because she won’t stop smoking. Any other book about Paris is better and who needs a man who can’t stop feeling sorry for himself (but chases women anyway,) Dear publishers, with all the compelling stories to tell, why give this bore any ink at all??

[Judy McCarver · Rating 3 out of 5]

I resonated with the love he had for his wife. In the same way, I feel that same closeness and attachment to my husband and him to me. I think the author's grief after his wife's death was palpable for the reader. Paris is an incredibly beautiful city. We have been many times and continue to go back. I don't think it is uncommon when we lose people we love, to return to places where we hope to find them in our dreams and memories, and somehow gain a closeness to them in that place, possibly unattainable somewhere else. I was deeply effected by the seemingly hopelessness of Celeste's life. I hope she finds what she was looking for. Sometimes we look for something in all the wrong places. As for the author, in the end, I felt like he had achieved a level of peace and contentedness that wasn't there in the beginning.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first half of the book is about the marriage of Tracy and Gregory Curtis and their discovery of Paris and France and their shared love of this country and this city. The latter half is after Tracy’s death and Gregory’s bond with Paris and France.
I loved this book. He takes great care to describe his many walks, experiences and food.

[Stacy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Started reading and ended up skimming to the end. Couldn't finish. Yes, it's supposed to be about remembrances of various trips to Paris with his spectacular wife, who died in 2011. But its as if that serves mostly as a backdrop. It gets uncomfortable. The author's stated expertise in where to eat, stay, walk, go on fox chases in the countryside, avail himself of membership in the Louvre etc. comes off as bragging on and on. After his wife Tracy dies, he returns a few more times for visits that include an affair with a Parisian woman. But he still sees visions of Tracy at times. It seems like Tracy was in almost constant cancer treatment for most of their 35 years together. You have to admire Curtis tender care for her and wonder how he and his children moved through all that lung cancer treatment while the couple remained so committed to going to Paris all those times. Understanding more about how the family dealt with her cancer ordeal would have been a more sensitive and authentic story.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

For a writer by trade, I expected much more. This memoir falls disappointingly short. The writing is not particularly enjoyable and the reading is boring to difficult at best.

Another reviewer just skimmed it and that's probably a great idea!

It's nothing more than a name-dropping list of streets, restaurants, museums, galleries, hotels and other places for an American to visit/stay. Gregory Curtis seems strangely absent from Tracy's two children, never becoming the step-father figure I had anticipated in a "love story" he proclaims to have had. Would have loved to have read Tracy's journals of their live together. Have a feeling they differed a lot from his idea of a shallow loving relationship/marriage in which her beauty is primary to his manhood.

I didn't feel a close relationship with Tracy and his two children either; note the first paragraph of the book mentions "to Tracy's children" and lists them by name, rather than "to our children" as a family man usually refers to all children within the family (whether birthed, adopted or blended family members.

Is he really capable of loving or does he simply love himself and the idea of being in love? IDK. His first feeling of being a family man was pulling a dead cat by the tail out from under the house. EWWWW. Not my idea of a loving man, husband and/or father figure.

For a couple who have not saved money for vacations, they certainly found ways to travel to Paris a lot with the attitude of "whether we can afford it or not" by cashing in (gulp) money from his 401(k) retirement fund! When they took two children, the trip to Paris wasn't planned around mid-teen interests and he admits their children didn't really enjoy most of the trip. I found this lack of family bonding sad and probably dysfunctional in many ways; yet he doesn't seem to have a clue.

Following Tracy's death, he returns to Paris several times. Money seems no object (kids are through school and out of the house) and he is retired, but still writing periodically. He does fall in love again, again; until she breaks it off.

So he's on his own again. Time to write the memoir of Tracy and Paris. It's a boring read.

This book made me wonder if his grief was for him and his loneliness or his late wife's death. We only read one side of their story and don't know how happy Tracy really was in the marriage. Again, IDK. It's a very strange memoir by a man who seems very self-absorbed throughout the book.

[Lindy · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is getting a lot of good reviews, especially in Texas. Curtis is is a famous Austin writer.
After hearing about it in an Austin bookstore I was eager to read it. Not quite what was expected. Small pick to begin with. I haven't been to Paris. If I were lucky enough to go, I don't think I'd need to remember all the names of famous streets and fashionable neighborhoods Curtis name drops a lot. It's annoying and pretentious. The real story here is much bigger and deserving---the auth0r's attempt to come to grips when his beloved wife Tracy dies after three bouts of cancer. He describes as her as more accomplished, remarkable, and beautiful than any other woman could ever be for him. "There is no love but love at first sight." Those familiar with Cancer treatment may wish Tracy could have tried to stop smoking, as he tells it, with this supportive and loving husband by her side. In this time of Covid, millions are having to deal with the awful grief and sorrow Curtis so ably addresses early on in the book. His care for Tracy is heroic. But soon it becomes clear that his way of coming to grips with grief is not for everyman. He is wealthy enough to return for other trips to Paris "without her. He discovers new accommodations, and many more new beautiful places to stroll, enjoys more fine French food, spends significant sums for a membership to the Louvre, and classes to the Sorbonne (no less!), meets a younger woman artist and falls in love again again after all, for an affair that lasts until she seems to call it quits. This is well written and very moving in parts. But in the end, sorely tone-deaf to what would constitute any real healing for so many, even just in our own country-those in the process of seriously dealing with grief now, and will never make it to Paris.

[Ken Proudfoot · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent memoir. Pignant, sad, inspiring all at the same time. Anyone who has traveled to Paris and/or been in a wonderful relationship that included memorable travel will identify with the true life stories Curtis shares about his life with his wife, and after, following her death. Read it and you will find yourself in its pages as well.

[Lynne Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adore this book. Having spent a glorious week in Paris with my husband when we were young I can totally relate to his experiences and enchantment with Paris. Paris is an ancient city that is a feast for the senses. The architecture, the culture, the food, the art, the sensuality of Paris,
all waiting to be discovered. I would love to return and rent an apartment and just explore. Any one with any romance in their soul will love this book.

[Gay Youngblood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Because I knew the characters in real life this book was very meaningful to me personally. I learned more about Paris which is a city I love and have been to, and learned so much more from the book and is descriptions. John and I read it together and really enjoyed remembering things and places that we had been. It evoked wonderful memories of our own experiences in Paris.

[Susan Krich · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like memoirs better than many biographies.
They give an in depth section of a person's life rather than mostly list of achievements with a few personal facts included.
I have never had a desire to visit France or in particular Paris.
I found this book very interesting for the personal life of the author and his wife as well as interesting facts about Paris.

[Charlettia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. We hear about how Hollywood lives all the time and it was good to hear a real great love story that involved real life issues and romance. I hope to return to France one day and visit some of these places, they sound so wonderful. It felt good to dive into this book with a glass of wine and just enjoy a good life story. Thank you.

[Samm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stuck somewhere between 2.5-3 stars. The writing itself is nice and I loved reading about all of these places in France, but the actual subject “Paris Without Her” fell flat. Paris without her apparently means moving on with another woman. Kind of a shame to her memory.

[Jeff Donosky · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the book quite charming and deeply personal without being treacly sweet. I had lived several years in Paris as a young man and as one who is no longer young, I enjoyed reading Greg's adventures from his particular perspective.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a well written memoir that is a love story to both his late wife as well as to the French language and culture. A very human story. Also personal, as I was living in Houston near MD Anderson when his wife was getting treatment.

[Lone Star Literary Life]

Reviewed by Chris Manno for Lone Star Literary Life.

[Debby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this memoir and his adventures in France. Appreciate his honesty.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

This comes across as one-dimensional. What I know to be an incredibly upending experience falls flat as we don’t get to know either the author or his wife in these pages.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very warm and enjoyable book. Makes you want to go to Paris.

[AnneLouise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book to be more so an ode to Paris, less so an ode to a marriage. But I thought it a lovely and moving memoir.

[John Stevenson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I good book about grief. I enjoyed learning about Paris and his life

[Sydney McAlister · Rating 2 out of 5]

like barely a 2. it was entertaining at first but it kinda dragged on with not a ton of purpose and story telling tbh. i was skimming most of it especially by the end just to finish it