September 2, 2022
Historian Hazan's (The Invention of Paris) collection of 31 short, idiosyncratic pieces about a changing Paris covers everything from the history of its ubiquitous zinc roofs to the slow waning of its artistic cafes. But Hazan, a political activist and insatiable fl�neur ("stroller," roughly), has compiled something far greater than musings on the City of Light. Read together, these pieces offer an extended invitation to the reader to take the many layers of Parisian life and history more seriously and give them the attention they merit. The questions the author asks readers to consider are simple: who decides how Paris changes, and who will decide its future? His writing may seem heavy-handed at times, but it's due to his obvious passion to preserve the rich fabric of Parisian life. VERDICT Readers already familiar with Paris will find this fiery and charming volume the perfect companion for a thought-provoking walk around the City of Light.--Colin Chappell
Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
October 3, 2022
Publisher Hazan (The Invention of Paris) meshes history, architecture, philosophy, and social geography in this concise yet wide-ranging tribute to his native Paris. Refuting the notion that the French capital is a tourist trap in a terminal state of cultural and architectural decline, Hazan shares a series of variegated snapshots, including his impressions of “Roma accordionists in the Métro” and his reminiscences of taking his daughter to a merry-go-round in Belleville. Hazan’s vignettes, masterfully translated by Fernbach, capture sights as well as sounds, including the “very peculiar sound of the key winding the spring of the meter” on the city’s “long disappeared” red and black Renault taxis. The Paris that emerges is a palimpsest, its geography and history steadily written over but always leaving traces of the past. Hazan has plenty of criticisms, including the trend of “végétalisation,” or adding green spaces dotted with “brightly coloured benches and fitness equipment,” but offers solutions, including a plan to restore the ugly and unsafe Île de la Cité to “at least something of its former spirit.” Throughout, Hazan expertly reflects on the city’s cultural and intellectual transformations, and spotlights writers who “left their mark on the city,” including Victor Hugo and Honoré de Balzac. The result is an astute and opinionated tour of one of the world’s great cities.