
The Most Beautiful Walk in the World
A Pedestrian in Paris
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Narrated by:
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Graham Halstead
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By:
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John Baxter
About this listen
Thrust into the unlikely role of professional "literary walking tour" guide, an expat writer provides the most irresistibly witty and revealing tour of Paris in years. In this enchanting memoir, acclaimed author and long-time Paris resident John Baxter remembers his yearlong experience of giving "literary walking tours" through the city. Baxter sets off with unsuspecting tourists in tow on the trail of Paris' legendary artists and writers of the past.
Along the way, he tells the history of Paris through a brilliant cast of characters: the favorite cafes of Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and James Joyce; Pablo Picasso's underground Montmartre haunts; the bustling boulevards of the late-19th-century flâneurs; the secluded "Little Luxembourg" gardens beloved by Gertrude Stein; the alleys where revolutionaries plotted; and finally Baxter's own favorite walk near his home in Saint-Germain-des-Pres.
Paris, by custom and design, is a pedestrian's city - each block a revelation, every neighborhood a new feast for the senses, a place rich with history and romance at every turn. The Most Beautiful Walk in the World is your guide, par excellence, to the true, off-the-beaten-path heart of the City of Lights.
©2011 John Baxter (P)2017 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
Fun journey through Paris.
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The historic stories
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LOVED THIS BOOK !!!!
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Annoying Narration
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Unengaging
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I will definitely listen to this again and recommend it for anyone who loves Paris, is interested in Paris or is a general Francophile.
Took me back to Paris
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puts me to sleep, not in a good way
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It begins as a string of anecdotes, and purpose for the narrative structure Baxter employs only becomes apparent about 2/3 away through the book, and even then it is feels uninspired. A collection of semi gossipy stories that are not particularly cohesive.
The performance was mostly ok except two things which were just criminal:
1 -- It's a first person account by an Australian and it's read by American. It just sounds dumb. Hemingway needs to be read by an American man. Toni Morrison by an African American woman. likewise, this should have been read by an Australian man.
2 -- When he does imitate other Australians in the story, he absolutely butchers the accent. As in, it's abysmal.
So there you go, my first proper review on this site, and it's about something that left me disappointed. But, in general, I love these recorded books and so I can't complain too much. This is a single one, compared to the twenty or so that I've adored.
I really wanted to love this, but...
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ugh... another who hates all that isn't Paris.
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Incoherent group of stories
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