Paris has been an extraordinary destination for American writers, including: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Mark Twain, Henry James, Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, E. E. Cummings, Cole Porter, Henry Miller, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Theodore Dreiser, Edith Wharton, and John Dos Passos. Whether they were escaping, becoming an exile, or just enjoying the mystery and romance of Paris, these books explore the many stories, letters, memoirs, and journalism from American writers in Paris.
1. Americans in Paris: A Literary Anthology
by Adam Gopnik (Editor). Library of America. From the publisher: "Including stories, letters, memoirs, and journalism, 'Americans in Paris' distills three centuries of vigorous, glittering, and powerfully emotional writing about the place that Henry James called 'the most brilliant city in the world'."
2. Paris in Mind: Three Centuries of Americans Writing About Paris
by Jennifer Lee (Editor). Vintage Books. From the publisher: "Including essays, book excerpts, letters, articles, and journal entries, this seductive collection captures the long and passionate relationship Americans have had with Paris. Accompanied by an illuminating introduction, Paris in Mind is sure to be a fascinating voyage for literary travelers."3. American Expatriate Writing and the Paris Moment: Modernism and Place
by Donald Pizer. Louisiana State University Press. From the publisher: "Montparnasse and its cafe life, the shabby working-class area of the place de la Contrescarpe and the Pantheon, the small restaurants and cafes along the Seine, and the Right Bank world of the well-to-do...for American writers self-exiled to Paris during the 1920s and 1930s, the French capital represented what their homeland could not..."4. Being Geniuses Together, 1920-1930
by Robert McAlmon, and Kay Boyle. Johns Hopkins University Press. From the publisher: "There was no more exhilarating decade in the history of modern letters than the twenties in Paris. They were all there: Ezra Pound, Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, James Joyce, John Dos Passos, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Mina Loy, T. S. Eliot, Djuna Barnes, Ford Madox Ford, Katherine Mansfield, Alice B. Toklas...and with them were Robert McAlmon and Kay Boyle."5. France in Mind: An Anthology
by Alice Leccese Powers (Editor). Random House. From the publisher: "From Gertrude Stein’s Paris to Ezra Pound’s Pyrenees; from Tobias Smollett, who grumbled, to Peter Mayle, who settled in; and from Edith Wharton on falling in love to David Sedaris on falling over French grammar–here is France in all its splendor in the words of some of the best and most entertaining writers in the English language."6. The Lights of Home: A Century of Latin American Writers in Paris
by Jason Weiss. Routledge. From the publisher: "The rich blend of international cultures, ideas, personalities, and passions cultivated in the City of Light generated an explosion of artistic exploration and creativity. Drawing upon literary analysis, historical overview, and personal interviews, The Lights of Home illuminates why so many Latin American writers chose to stay in Paris for much of their adult lives, what the experience meant for them, and how it informed their work."7. A Place in the World Called Paris
by Steven Barclay (Editor), and Miles Hyman (Illustrator). Chronicle Books. From the publisher: "Paris—with its subtle moods, elegant charm, and sensual allure—inspires writers and visitors like no other city. 'A Place in the World Called Paris,' now in a beautiful paperback edition, collects the twentieth century's most distinguished authors writing on the unique facets of the City of Light."8. Twilight Years: Paris in the 1930's
by William Wiser. Carroll & Graf Publishers. From the publisher: "Jauntily narrated and illustrated with a superb selection of period photographs, The Twilight Years follows Elsa Schiaparelli, T. S. Eliot, Peggy Guggenheim, the Windsors, Collette, Jean Cocteau, and a host of other colorful celebrities and literary luminaries through the ten years that continued to foster the creative revolution of the expatriate era in Paris..."9. The Left Bank: Writers, Artists, and Politics from the Popular Front
by Herbert R. Lottman. University of Chicago Press. From the publishers: "Herbert Lottman's chronicle follows the influential players--Gide, Malraux, Sartre, de Beauvoir, Koestler, Camus, and their pro-Fascist counterparts..."10. A Paris Year
by James T. Farrell, Dorothy Farrell and Edgar Marquess Branch. Ohio University Press. From the publisher: "Their Paris story is embedded in the lives of other expatriates like Ezra Pound and Kay Boyle, who also were defining their times. Branch's narrative is complemented by photos of persons and places interwoven with the personal and artistic growth for the young Farrells."
