Rosecrans Baldwin
Memoir
I know what you’re thinking. Another Paris memoir? It’s true, I just can’t enough of Paris. Well, France. French culture in general. At times I think it would be awesome to move there. Put my French minor to good use (although since I graduated six years ago, my grasp of French has dwindled considerably). But this book mainly caught my attention because of the title. Not your usual Paris-is-awesome shtick.
Rosecrans Baldwin lands an advertising job in Paris and takes his wife along for the ride. They relocate from NYC (just like in Paris, My Sweet) and struggle with adjusting to Parisian life.
Again, I couldn’t helping comparing this to David Lebovitz’s The Sweet Life in Paris and finding it lacking. Baldwin isn’t as funny as Lebovitz, though there are a few amusing moments. What I appreciated most was his candor. A lot of memoirs wax poetic about how great living in Europe is, how wonderful life becomes. But Baldwin mentions over and over all the paperwork, the sayings that are lost in translation and how difficult his job is because he doesn’t speak French. On the other hand, by the end of the book, I got sick of him bitching about how he couldn’t understand anyone at work. Get a tutor, dude.
Too much of the book was taken up with his complaining, which makes sense, considering the title. I just wish he’d gone into more detail about the food, his apartment, the city. I know Paris isn’t perfect, but I’d like to imagine it is. And keep my fantasy of one day living abroad in a big European city alive and well.
Anyone who’s ever lived in Paris will probably enjoy this, and anyone who’s thinking of moving there. But I still recommend The Sweet Life in Paris more. Much more.
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