etc.

I have had Paris in mind for the past couple of weeks, blame it on the wonderful warm weather or blame it on Cole Porter, so when I was scanning the travel literature section of the campus bookstore the other day and my eyes fell upon the spine of this book, resistance was futile.

As lovely as the memories were that reading this recalled, I found this book a little frustrating. The table of contents boasts literary greats like Hemingway, Waugh, Eliot, Stein and Wharton, and contemporary recognisables like Dave Barry, David Sedaris and Saul Bellow. But it’s a thin volume, 261 pages long, and that should have been the tip off to the fact that the editor only chose to include short fragments of larger works (some out of context), which might be entirely enjoyable for someone who is new to the vast body of work that is the Paris travel narrative, but is just unfulfilling for anyone who isn’t.