Book Notes: Remembrances of Things Paris
Edited by Ruth Reichl
My Short Summary
A collection of short essays about Paris by editors of Gourmet magazine, ranging from 1930s to modern day.
My Short Take
Delightful and diverting, particularly if you love Paris and/or food.
Recommend
Yes, particularly to foodies and anyone who loves Paris.
Some Thoughts
Our friend Andrew bought this for us a couple years ago because he knows how much we adore Paris, and I confess it found itself onto a spot on our bookshelf that’s got sort of a Bermuda Triangle energy; whenever I went to decide on my next read, I just didn’t see it.
But for some reason in December, it snagged my eye. I’ve read a bunch of thick, chunky books this year, and really enjoyed them, but I was in the mood for something pretty during the holiday season.
This book absolutely delivered. I’m rather new to memoir reading, and I’m very new to any sort of “travel essays,” being a homebody at heart without much of a travel bug. But as mentioned, I have a soft spot for Paris, and with each turn of the page of this book I found myself eagerly anticipating our next trip.
Given that it’s from writers of Gourmet magazine, I expected it to be entirely food focused, and that’s certainly the common thread, though it’s really more of a love letter to Paris itself.
One of the most surprising—and rewarding—parts of the reading experience was experiencing the different “voices” of the writers. There are a couple of one-off essays, but many of the names became familiar over the course of the book, and by the end I could tell who’d written what without seeing their names.
As someone who’s heart’s been crying out for a chance to write something something other than fiction, I was fascinated at the way two writers could write about the exact same restaurant or or experience, and create such vividly different pictures of the experience.
Would I read this again? I’m not sure I need to. But I’ll remember it fondly.
