NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The finest book on France in recent years.Alain de Botton The New York Times Book Review In 1995 Adam Gopnik his wife and their infant son left the familiar comforts and hassles of New York City for the urbane glamour of Paris. In the grand tradition of Stein Hemingway Baldwin and Liebling Gopnik set out to enjoy the storied existence of an American in Pariswalks down the paths of the Tuileries philosophical discussions in cafs and afternoon jaunts to the Muse dOrsay. But as readers of Gopniks beloved and awardwinning Paris Journal in The New Yorker know there was also the matter of raising a child and carrying on with la vie quotidiennethe daily slightly less fabled life. As Gopnik discovers in this tender account the dual processes of navigating a foreign city and becoming a parent are not completely dissimilarboth promise new routines new languages and a new set of rules by which each day is to be lived. With singular wit and insight Gopnik manages to weave the magical with the mundane in this wholly delightful book that Entertainment Weekly deemed magisterial. show more