Americans in Paris: a Literary Anthology

From the earliest years of the American republic, Paris has provoked an extraordinary American literary response. An almost inevitable destination for writers and thinkers, Paris has been many things to many Americans: a tradition-bound bastion of the old world of Europe; a hotbed of revolutionary ideologies in politics and art; and a space in which to cultivate an openness to life and love thought impossible at home. Including stories, letters, memoirs, and journalism, "Americans in Paris" distills three centuries of vigorous, glittering, and powerfully emotional writing about the place that Henry James called ?the most brilliant city in the world.? American writers came to Paris as statesmen, soldiers, students, tourists, and sometimes they stayed as expatriates. This anthology ranges from the crucial early impressions of Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin to the latter-day reflections of writers as varied as James Baldwin, Isadora Duncan, and Jack Kerouac. Along the way we encounter the energetic travelers of the nineteenth century?Emerson, Mark Twain, Henry James?and the pilgrims of the twentieth: Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, E. E. Cummings, Cole Porter, Henry Miller. Come along as Thomas Paine takes a direct and dangerous part in the French Revolution; Harriet Beecher Stowe tours the Louvre; Theodore Dreiser samples the sensual enticements of Parisian night life; Edith Wharton movingly describes Paris in the early days of World War I; John Dos Passos charts the gathering political storms of the 1930s; Paul Zweig recalls the intertwined pleasures of language and sex; and A. J. Liebling savors the memory of his culinary education in delicious detail."Americans in Paris" is a diverse and constantly engaging mosaic, full of revealing cultural gulfs and misunderstandings, personal and literary experimentation, and profound moments of self-discovery.Contents:Letter to Mary Stevenson by Benjamin FranklinLetters from Auteuil by Abigail AdamsTwo letters by Thomas Jeffersonfrom A diary of the French Revolution by Gouverneur MorrisShall Louis XVI. have respite? by Thomas Painefrom The diary of James Gallatin by James Gallatinfrom Life, letters, and journals by George TicknorLetter to Stephen Longfellow, Jr. by Henry Wadsworth Longfellowfrom Journal, 1833 by Ralph Waldo Emersonfrom Pencillings by the way by Nathaniel Parker Willisfrom Gleanings in Europe by James Fenimore Cooperfrom Struggles and triumphs; or, Forty years' recollections by P.T. Barnumfrom Catlin's Notes of eight years' travels and residence in Europe by George Catlinfrom Things and thoughts in Europe by Margaret Fullerfrom Sunny memories of foreign lands by Harriet Beecher Stowefrom The French notebooks by Nathaniel Hawthornefrom The innocents abroad by Mark TwainThe proclamation of the republic by Elihu WashburneOccasional Paris ; "The velvet glove" by Henry JamesLetter from Paris by Frederick DouglassLetter to John Hay by Henry Adamsfrom The show-places of Paris by Richard Harding Davis. from My life by Isadora Duncanfrom A life in photography by Edward Steichenfrom Along this way by James Weldon JohnsonA traveler at forty by Theodore DreiserThe look of Paris ; from A backward glance by Edith WhartonMon amie by Randolph BourneParis notebook, 1921 by Sherwood Andersonfrom Peter Whiffle by Carl Van VechtenSignificant gesture by Malcolm Cowleyfrom Life among the surrealists by Matthew Josephsonfrom The big sea by Langston Hughesfrom Gentlemen prefer blondes by Anita LoosFour letters from Paris, 1925 by William Faulknerfrom Post impressions ; Vive la Folie! by E.E. Cummingsfrom The spirit of St. Louis by Charles LindberghThe flying fool by Waverly Rootfrom A moveable feast by Ernest HemingwayPostcard to Samuel Loveman by Hart CraneParis diaries by Harry CrosbyYou don't know Paree by Cole PorterBabylon revisited by F. Scott FitzgeraldFrom an early diary by Lincoln Kirsteinfrom The autobiography of Alice B. Toklas ; from Paris France by Gertrude SteinWalking up and down in China by Henry MillerA spring month in Paris by John Dos Passosfrom The flower and the nettle by Anne Morrow Lindberg. The last time I saw Paris by Oscar Hammerstein IIfrom Shakespeare and Company by Sylvia BeachLetter from Paris by Janet FlannerParis, 7 A.M. by Elizabeth BishopNo. 13 Rue St. Augustin by Ludwig BemelmansPlace Pigalle by Richard WilburThree letters by Dawn Powellfrom First days in Paris by Art BuchwaldEqual in Paris by James Baldwinfrom Remembrance of things past by Irwin ShawThe saucier's apprentice by S.J. PerlmanGood-bye to a world by May Sartonfrom Departures by Paul ZweigThe first time I saw Paris by James ThurberTrouble in Paris by Sidney Bechetfrom Between meals : an appetite for Paris by A.J. Liebling17 Quai Voltaire by Virgil Thomsonfrom Satori in Paris by Jack KerouacGare de Lyon by M.F.K. Fisherfrom D.V. by Diana Vreelandfrom Birthday by Dorothea Tanning