Paris to the Moon

This collection of lengthy and absorbing essays about French life were originally written for The New Yorker magazine, which Adam Gopnik works for, between 1995 and the year 2000. Gopnik emigrated from America because he’d always wanted to live in Paris, and so these essays give an American’s view of near-contemporary France. Gopnik writes using the elegant and informative style associated with The New Yorker, which means the book is never less than readable. However, though Gopnik is good on politics, he’s less good on culture. One chapter, ‘The World Cup and After’ displays a startling lack of insight into the game of football, which Gopnik apparently dislikes because it’s low scoring. He writes that “soccer is not meant to be an escape from life. It is life, in all its injustice and tedium” a maxim that ‘soccer’ fans everywhere may never agree with, because it’s basically false. Still, this is a misstep and Gopnik is usually less condescending. His exemplary piece on a General Strike is a neat description of the overall political conditions combined with the story of how it affected him personally – his Thanksgiving turkey was late! It’s really a more indicative essay than that on the World Cup. This collection is well worth reading, even when it’s disagreeable. [Keir Hind]