Ms. Flanner mentions in her introduction that it took a while, through discussions with Harold Ross, to develop her style for these dispatches from Paris. A few of the longer pieces were published in Vanity Fair and Harper's Bazaar but as the years pass a distinctive style emerges - the 'New Yorker Style' that we still enjoy today. So, they begin to have a freshness, despite the passage of 85 years. The pieces on the approaching war are very interesting. ( )

This is different. Some of the entries are very entertaining.. others not so much. Still an interesting look at the time and the mindset of the author. I picked this up at a library sale, definitely worth the dime! ( )

Mixed bag -- but generally good -- selection of pieces written by The New Yorker's correspondent in Paris from 1925 to 1939. The first batch read like a necrology, discussing recent deaths and death-anniversaries. The real meat comes later, with analyses of things like the Stavisky Affair. As one can imagine, lots of discussions of the arts, and American ex-pats. Flanner herself pops up discreetly as a witness in a few cases. Recommended, more for art mavens and those interested in the runup to World War II. ( )

Per my fascination with 20s Paris I picked this up and found it fun. Flanner has a great sense of history and the fact that she was bisexual got her in with the truly *in* crowd (Stein et al.) hanging out in Paris back prior to WW2. Her book almost reads like a who's who of the pack of expats and assorted significant others gathered there. Writing as Genet, she wrote all the dirt that was to be had and could get by the editors of _The New Yorker_. ( )

5299. Paris Was Yesterday 1925-1939, by Janet Flanner (Genet) Edited by Irving Drutman (read 6 Aug 2015) This book draws from letters the author sent to The New Yorker beginning in 1925 and ending on Sep 3, 1939. Thus there are contemporaneous accounts of exciting things like Lindbergh's arrival in Paris on 21 May 1927, and the riot on Feb 6, 1934, connected to the Stavisky scandal. She has incisive comments on prominent people who died in Paris such as Clemenceau in 1929 and Marshall Foch that same year, and of Edith Wharton in 1937. The comments are very readable and pertinent and sometimes funny. It was a fantastic time, made more poignant by what we know came after it. ( )