An Adventure History of Paris I took this as a very good plane read. Robb is not the most gifted of wordsmith’s (I find myself continually re-reading sentences) but he is a good historian and has a smart eye for the story in history. Here, many tales of Parisian life (and death). Who knew for instance that Emile Zola was murdered? An excellent book for all Francophiles, and a great book for picking up and putting down on travels. I also enjoyed his The Discovery of France.

On a quick trip to London I read my wife’s guru Chelsea Handler on my I-Fad. She is very funny and witty and totally adorable. And of course she’s fun in bed. To read, to read…

A very large book. I found one chapter absolutely exquisite, deliciously written and I slipped off my shoes for a good read, only to find it stumbling on and on, without shape or plot or direction. I am rather uncomfortable with all the anti-Semitism which I know is meant ironically, well I hope so anyway, and is attempting some kind of history of this sickness, and I like the illustrations, which make the book seem old, but the biography of this person who may or may not be the person who thinks he is or isn’t becomes so confusing that eventually you don’t care. Nice big book, makes a great door stop.

“The last act of the desperate writer is to introduce himself into his own novel…” That’s what I wrote about a Theroux book, and my heart sank as an interesting start turned post-modern with the arrival of the author in the story. But H goes a step further. He has himself murdered in his own novel. Talk about anticipating the critics. Actually he won the Prix Goncourt with this one, and I have enjoyed his previous books, and I really like his writing style, but I found this increasingly irritating. I couldn’t wait to find out who dun it, so I dumped it.