Rating: 
Summary: Paris Flambe
Review: 'Le Flaneur' leaves a dry aftertaste like an ill-prepared 'Paris Flambe'- that is to say, after all of Edmund White's rambling, both through Paris and through this novelette, he has overcooked the city of light to flavorlessness. The irony of this charge is that Edmund White has labored to enliven Paris with buttery richness by delving into 'off-the-beaten-path' places and elaborating on the lesser known, 'alternative' histories and personas the city has hosted. But Mr. White's mix is just too watery. I know that he has stated that his novelette is supposed to be without real direction other than observing Paris and elements of its history, but in fact his observations are too one-sided, for he focuses on things like homosexuals and drag queens and stuff. Its just watery, and lacks backbone. Paris is far more than these libertine forays into strange pleasures. I think Mr. White is too hung up on the pleasnatries and funkyness of a city which equally prides itself on gravity of thought and formality of action- these later aspects he entirely overlooks. Where's the balanced purview?
Rating: 
Summary: Annoyed By Most Travel Books?
Review: Edmund White gives a very different "travel book" in FLANEUR: A STROLL THROUGH THE PARADOXES OF PARIS. If you don't delight in books that compare prices of hotels and restaurants or books in which the author traces the difficulty of restoring and furbishing a fabulous villa all while beguiling and amusing the locals then White's book will offer you a refreshing alternative. Sixteen-year resident, White, offers a view of Paris that is at once personal and historical. It is more accurately described as a memoir of Paris rather than a standard travel book. One feels as though a friend is offering a leisurely tour of the city showing you his favorite places and telling stories offering insight and historical tidbits not dragging you through a checklist as an impersonal tourist. The changes in neighborhoods and the histories he describes particularly those of expatriate Americans in Paris are all insightful. White's tone is erudite and conversational without being tedious or condescending. The term flaneur is key in the title. The pace of the book is strolling but always interesting. It seems to have no direction but the end result is both illuminating and satisfying. Most remarkably it offers an enjoyable read whether one is immediately traveling to Paris or armchair traveling or whether one is living in a villa in Europe or a small apartment in the States.
Rating:
Summary: Annoyed By Most Travel Books?
Review: Edmund White gives a very different "travel book" in FLANEUR: A STROLL THROUGH THE PARADOXES OF PARIS. If you don't delight in books that compare prices of hotels and restaurants or books in which the author traces the difficulty of restoring and furbishing a fabulous villa all while beguiling and amusing the locals then White's book will offer you a refreshing alternative. Sixteen-year resident, White, offers a view of Paris that is at once personal and historical. It is more accurately described as a memoir of Paris rather than a standard travel book. One feels as though a friend is offering a leisurely tour of the city showing you his favorite places and telling stories offering insight and historical tidbits not dragging you through a checklist as an impersonal tourist. The changes in neighborhoods and the histories he describes particularly those of expatriate Americans in Paris are all insightful. White's tone is erudite and conversational without being tedious or condescending. The term flaneur is key in the title. The pace of the book is strolling but always interesting. It seems to have no direction but the end result is both illuminating and satisfying. Most remarkably it offers an enjoyable read whether one is immediately traveling to Paris or armchair traveling or whether one is living in a villa in Europe or a small apartment in the States.
Rating:
Summary: Every traveller's dream.......
Review: Edmund White has done it again. He has created the first (in what seems to be a series) guided tour of a great city which focuses on the idiosyncrases, particular flavor, befuddling history and ultimate addicting charm of Paris. This is as close as it gets to walking along side an established scholar and join him in the role of "Flaneur" - one who meanders without prejudice through the backways of a great city, just for the sake of observing and reflecting. There is more French (rather Parisian) history in this little tome than multivolume sets that mold on library shelves. But we find out only the things that interest White (he makes it all so poignant). Sections of the city and the book are devoted to the peculiar Parisian take on monarchism vs royalsim vs republicanism vs socialism. White cleverly introduces anecdotes that at first suggest neighborhood gossip but later are referenced to available writing that documents these strange truths. There is an entertaining history of African Americans in Paris, immigrants of all nationalities as they are today and were in history, a hilariously confused lineage of the royalty of France, and a frightening examination of why AIDS is so rampant in the city. White strolls, cruises, pauses, reflects, delights in the smells and times of day when the light is best in certain areas, and provides a staggering list of the countless museums devoted to every idea imaginable while castigating city design choices and current architecture meant to make the city logical. The format of this book is very small which means it would fit into the back pocket of any tourist visiting the City of Light who longs for much more insight than pocket guides from tour companies can even suggest. White writes as well in books like this and his bios of Genet, Proust etc as he does in his inimitable novels. This is a little treasure of a book!
Rating: 
Summary: Edmund White is a Smart DUDE
Review: Edmund White's "The Flaneur" is not meant to be a a travel book even though in it he relates his travels around Paris. It is written in the tradition of a Flaneur which means Mr. White must comment on all that he sees and hears and knows about those areas in Paris on which he chooses to comment. Based on several novels and and non-fiction books he has written(White was made a Chevalier de l'ordre des Arts et Lettres by the French government for "Genet: A Biography")and by the fact he lived in Paris for a number of years he certainly posseses the goods to do justice to his subject. And indeed he does. This short book is crammed full of all sorts of interesting facts about Paris some of which seem to get people's dander up. But my answer to them is: GROW UP! A fine, well written insightful PERSONAL account of the streets and byways of Paris. Bravo Mr. White.
Rating:
Summary: Strolling through Paris
Review: Flaneur is a French term for an aimless urban stroller. One in search of experience, not knowledge. Paris, says Edmund White, is ideal for this indulgence. Unlike sprawling New York, for example, almost every Paris street alluringly turns seamlessly into the next. I found one of the best strolls described led to tha Marais, a district untouched by Baron Haussman's reconstruction of Paris under Napleon 3rd in 1869, which is the Paris we know today. Young Parisiens rediscovered and moved into the houses with old fashioned fireplaces and timber beamed ceilings, causing prices to rise The old Jewish ghetto is here, surrounded by neighboring chic boutiques.
Strolling east of the Champ d'Elysee is the Parc Monceau where Colette, San Saens and Proust once lived. One of the old mansions houses an extensive art collection of antique furniture, rugs, china which White says is only slightly less impressive than that of the Frick Museum in New York. Few tourists know this
. White unhurridely lingers at sites overlooked by most tourists, recalling priceless memories of Parisiens from Monarchists to literary figures.
Today. he notes Arab, African and Asian immigrants nearly dominate the city's tastes and sounds. Opiniated, yet free of prejudice, White eyes paradoxes of Paris. A section on Parisian homosexuals illustrates this. A large bibliography covers every aspect of French life. This book is witty, honest, thoroughly engaging.A unique guide for visitors to Paris,
Rating:
Summary: "THE PARADOXES OF PARIS"
Review: I hope that the people at Bloomsbury Press continue to employ wise and opinionated writers who can tell us about their favorite cities and the personal secrets to be found in them. This first, by Edmund White, is a winner. White takes us into HIS Paris, a city he has lived in for many, many years. As an American, the city will naturally feel different to him than it might to a native. White's writing is, as always, graceful and beautiful. His assessment of Colette, his desription of "nationalism" among the Jews of Paris, and, certainly, his thoughts on Homosexuality and specifically HIV in this city are important and fascinating. I also especially enjoyed the short appendix on "further reading." It surprised me that a few of the other reviewers were taken aback that White would spend so much of his time on gay Parisian life. This has always been a subject for White...in his novels, his memoirs and in his non-fiction works. Hire Julia Child to write about Paris and we're bound to get a book filled with thoughts on food. By the way, a "flaneur," we are told, is a person who walks, strolls for the purpose of walking or strolling...not with any "ulterior" motive. RECOMMENDED
Rating: 
Summary: Boring. And self-satisfied.
Review: I left this one on the plane after reading it. It bored me. I was looking forward to an alternative view--after all, the original flaneurs didn't sit around in drawing rooms, but ventured into grittier corners of Paris. But White managed to do what no one else has done before: he managed to make unfamiliar, little explored parts of Paris dull. I read a great deal of travel literature (I've got well over 1000 travel titles on my shelves); this one wasn't worth keeping.
Rating:
Summary: A good alternative to travel guide books
Review: I read The Flaneur as part of a research for my undergraduate dissertation (tourism). It offers an alternative view to the rosy pictures many travel guides have painted of Paris. Although one has to infer and read between the lines in this book for academic purposes, it remains a relatively good source of leisure reading as well.
Rating:
Summary: Less White, More Paris s'il vous plait
Review: If you're looking to escape into the city of Paris, forget this book. The author never quite manages to leave himself out of the picture for long and fails, unlike the best essayists, to tease larger truths from small observations. Why he needed to leap from a discussion of small museums to a lengthy discourse on his homosexuality is a mystery. The book disappointed.
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