Montparnasse: Paris's District of Memory and Desire
About this ebook
By the IACP Award-winning author of the national bestseller The Most Beautiful Walk in the World, MONTPARNASSE reveals the history and present delights of the iconic neighborhood that is best associated with the vibrant 1920-30s-era Paris—a romantic time and place evoked in Hemingway's memoir A Moveable Feast and Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer. From the first meeting of Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald to their friendship's bitter conclusion; from the courage of the anti-Nazi resistance to the clubs where German generals partied; from the attempted murder of Samuel Beckett to the rise of Josephine Baker to stardom; from the high life of the Coupole and the Cafe du Dôme to the bawdy music halls of rue de la Gaité; no Paris quarter has witnessed more tumultuous events than Montparnasse.
In a ground-breaking reappraisal of this most glamorous of Paris's districts, Baxter looks beyond the nostalgia to the secret history of Montparnasse, a district where desire effaced memory and every taste could be satisfied—even those which were unexpressed. If, as Oscar Wilde suggested, all good Americans went to Paris when they died, it was Montparnasse that brought them back to life.
This rich cultural history steps beyond the myth to reveal the people, places, and passions that defined an era:
- Paris Between the Wars: Explore a neighborhood of stark contrasts, from the courage of the anti-Nazi resistance to the decadent clubs where German generals partied.
- Literary Legends: Walk in the footsteps of Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald—from their first meeting to their bitter falling out—and uncover the story of Samuel Beckett's brush with death on a Paris street.
- Icons of the Jazz Age: Witness the meteoric rise of stars like Josephine Baker, who took the city by storm and became a symbol of the era's vibrant energy.
- Café Society: Pull up a chair at the legendary Coupole and Dôme, then dive into the bawdy music halls of the rue de la Gaité to experience the high and low life that fueled a generation of artists.
- The Secret History: Go beyond the well-worn nostalgia to a place where desire effaced memory, and every taste could be satisfied—even those that remained unspoken.
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About the author
John Baxter has lived in Paris for more than twenty years. He is the author of four acclaimed memoirs about his life in France: The Perfect Meal: In Search of the Lost Tastes of France; The Most Beautiful Walk in the World: A Pedestrian in Paris; Immoveable Feast: A Paris Christmas; and We'll Always Have Paris: Sex and Love in the City of Light. Baxter, who gives literary walking tours through Paris, is also a film critic and biographer whose subjects have included the directors Fellini, Kubrick, Woody Allen, and most recently, Josef von Sternberg. Born in Australia, he lives with his wife and daughter in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés neighborhood, in the same building Sylvia Beach called home.
