More memoirs of an American in Paris from the beautiful prose of this very fine writer. It's a very enjoyable and immensely readable recollection of the many artists and intellectuals he met in his 16 years living and writing in Paris. Most of the really interesting people seem to be gay, and even when he is gossipy and revealing about their sex lives, some of which are very bizarre indeed, it is always without malice and with great human sympathy. There is a great deal of sadness in the many lovers and friends who died of AIDS but he remains cheerfully optimistic even when, as he says, he becomes old and fat. I bought his latest novel….

…But a bit gay for me. Can we say that these days? But I do intend reading more of him, though I think he is a remarkable memoirist. Is that even a word? Get The Flaneur and Inside a Pearl.

Quickie. All character driven by the wonderful suspicious and very difficult housekeeper of the murdered man.

Magnificent 1932 biography of this fascinating diplomat who outplayed and survived Napoleon, who called him a shit in silk Stockings. He saw through Napoleon, spotted the dangers of him, stuck with Louis XVIII and negotiated a strong position for France at the Congress of Vienna. Elegantly written by Duff Cooper, quondam English ambassador to France married to Lady Diana Cooper, one of the great beauties of the age. He writes well and almost as good as his pal Winston Churchill.