Paris Journal, 1965-70

By Janet Flanner

Book Overview

Janet Flanner's Paris Journal is drawn from the author's celebrated "Letter from Paris, " a series that appeared in the New Yorker from 1925 to 1975 over the signature "Genet." In this volume of her journal, Miss Flanner records the social, political, and cultural upheaval of the late 1960s, ending her entries with the death of Charles de Gaulle in 1970. Through Flanner's Journal readers witness the student rebellions of 1968, learn of French concern over the American involvement in Vietnam, and visit the winter Olympic games in Grenoble. Paris reacts to the passing of Alice B. Toklas, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Winston Churchill; Samuel Beckett wins the Nobel Prize; Henri Cartier-Bresson mounts a landmark exhibition; the French issue a new five-franc note; and the horror film is the latest rage in Paris. Miss Flanner's record of this period is unmatched for its intelligence, authenticity, and elegance of style.

Born in Indianapolis in 1892, Janet Flanner became the Paris correspondent for the New Yorker in 1925 -- its first year of publication. Miss Flanner spent the last few years of her life in New York, where she died in 1978. Her Paris Journal covering the years 1944 to 1965 received the National Book Award.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 015670952X
• ISBN13: 9780156709521
• Release Date: July 1988
• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Length: 444 Pages
• Weight: 1.11 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.6" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

A Letter from Paris by Genet!

Janet Flanner was an aspiring writer but it would be her work as a journalist for the New Yorker which earned her the most acclaim. This collection of her Parisian writings is all about the change of Paris and France itself. She had lived in Paris, France with her lifelong companion and partner, Solita Solano. Without Solita, Janet could have never accomplished so much during the five years. When the Paris starts here in 1965, Janet is already 73 years old. Most of her friends have already passed away. Solita was also Janet's unpaid secretary who typed her articles. In Paris, she had Solita while in the country there was Noel Haskins Murphy. She also had a third lover, Natalia Danesi Murray, who lived between New York City and her native Italy. The five years in this Parisian Journal offers us a glimpse of the changing ways of Paris. It still is the art capital of the world but it is no longer what it once was a primary destination for expatriates who left the United States before the Great Depression and stayed. Still, Flanner has her flannerisms and this a treasurable for all of us who have had a love affair with the city of Paris.

C'est superbe

Flanner (nom de plume: Genêt), a former New Yorker essayist and who lived in Paris for many years, describes the cultural and social life of Paris in the 60s. She pens wonderful glimpses into what Parisians were thinking, feeling, and doing -Paris' life, wine, art, and ways of thinking. C'est magnifique.