Immoveable Feast: A Paris Christmas (2008)

Book Info

Author

John Baxter

Genre

Memoir & Autobiography

Rating

3.49 of 5 Votes: 5

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ISBN

0061562335 (ISBN13: 9780061562334)

Language

English

Publisher

Harper Perennial

Shops

Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble

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About book Immoveable Feast: A Paris Christmas (2008)

Most disappointing book I've read in awhile. I should LOVE this book - it's about my favorite holiday and my favorite city. But Baxter spends far too much time talking about old girlfriends, religious hangups and other tangents that seem unrelated to the main point of the book. There was not one, but TWO references to oral sex which I found wildly inappropriate. When he is writing about France and the Christmas dinner, I enjoyed it, but there just wasn't enough of that in an already slim book. I did pick up some recipes from this. And a sense of how a somewhat arrogant snob older Australian male adapts to an elitist life in France. But, aside from some good food tips (including customs), not a great deal of insight into "the French" that isn't surface material. I do love the quotes at the start of each chapter. One (on place - A Sense of Place is the chapter title) has me determined to (finally) read Proust. Overall, the first weak choice from a student for "a book to read before going to xxxxx" for someone wanting to delve below the surface.