{"product_id":"left-bank-9781408857472","title":"Left Bank","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e''Rich and funny'' Julian Barnes, \u003ci\u003eGuardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e''Poirier''s hugely enjoyable, quick-witted and richly anecdotal book is \u003ci\u003emagnifique\u003c\/i\u003e'' \u003ci\u003eThe Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eA captivating portrait of those who lived, loved, fought, played and flourished in Paris between 1940 and 1950 and whose intellectual and artistic output still influences us today.\u003c\/b\u003eAfter the horrors of the Second World War, Paris was the place where the world''s most original voices of the time came  among them Norman Mailer, Miles Davis, Simone de Beauvoir, James Baldwin, Juliette Greco, Alberto Giacometti, Saul Bellow and Arthur Koestler. Fuelled by the elation of the Liberation, these pioneers hoped to find an alternative to the Capitalist and Communist models for life, art and politics  a Third Way.Agnès Poirier transports us to a time when Paris was at the heart of all that was new and brave and controversial, skilfully weaving together a collage of images and destinies.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBriskly plotted, gossip-fuelled, character-driven cultural history ... Poirier’s hugely enjoyable, quick-witted and richly anecdotal book is \u003ci\u003emagnifique\u003c\/i\u003e’ * The Times *\u003cbr\u003eA \u003cb\u003etour de force\u003c\/b\u003e … weaves together so many people, ideas, trends, occurrences, and above all Parisian places, into a tapestry of fascinations – a distillation of the essence of an amazing time … \u003cb\u003ethe best of its kind I have ever read\u003c\/b\u003e -- A.C. Grayling\u003cbr\u003eA brilliant recapturing of a fascinating era. Artistic and intellectual Paris comes vividly and memorably alive in these pages. \u003cb\u003eA tremendous achievement\u003c\/b\u003e -- William Boyd\u003cbr\u003eWeighty thought and earthy behaviour are the twin engines behind Agnès Poirier’s briskly entertaining ride through France’s most \u003ci\u003emouvemonté \u003c\/i\u003edecade * Sunday Times *\u003cbr\u003ePoirier does not shy away from exposing the joy and pain of experimental living or from exploring with sensitivity the moral ambiguity of living through the Occupation ... \u003cb\u003ecompulsive reading\u003c\/b\u003e -- Anne Sebba, author of 'Les Parisiennes: Resistance, Collaboration, and the Women of Paris Under Nazi Occupation'\u003cbr\u003eA book which \u003cb\u003ecombines rich and subtle intellectual history with all the pleasures of a great soap opera\u003c\/b\u003e. Its gallery of characters is wonderfully realised - but the most wonderfully realised of all is Paris herself -- Tom Holland\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA remarkably exhilarating read\u003c\/b\u003e … \u003ci\u003eLeft Bank \u003c\/i\u003eis an enchanting account of how these exceptionally talented and original people not merely endured these harsh years but also found pleasure, and even a kind of joy, in creating small pockets of private utopia … \u003cb\u003ePoirier is acute and witty \u003c\/b\u003eon the love-hate relationship between Paris and America -- Kevin Jackson * Literary Review *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLeft Bank \u003c\/i\u003ereads as an \u003cb\u003eerudite and deeply satisfying\u003c\/b\u003e gossip column, in which \u003cb\u003eeach story is more incredible than the last\u003c\/b\u003e * New Republic *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLeft Bank\u003c\/i\u003e moves scene to scene, cafe to cafe, tracing the affiliations and intrigues of a group of writers, philosophers, artists and curators ... [Poirier] manages to create the feeling we're peeking into the windows of her subjects, looking at buildings that still stand, at inhabitants long gone * International New York Times *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA detailed chronicle of a decade alive with intellectual and political ferment\u003c\/b\u003e. London-based journalist Poirier (Touché: A French Woman's Take on the English, 1997), a panel member of the BBC's weekly program Dateline London, \u003cb\u003eoffers a gossipy, well-informed cultural history of her native Paris\u003c\/b\u003e, beginning in 1938, with Europe on the brink of war, and ending in 1949, with the Marshall Plan in effect to help the continent recover … \u003cb\u003eAn animated, abundantly populated history of dramatic times\u003c\/b\u003e * Kirkus *\u003cbr\u003ePoirier does not miss a trick in her lively accounts of the intense discussions and adulterous liaisons that centred on the Café de Flore or the nearby nightclub Le Tabou; but her real achievement is to contextualise these politically and culturally … \u003cb\u003eEntertaining and well-written story\u003c\/b\u003e -- Andrew Lycett * Spectator *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eOne of the most entertaining of the year\u003c\/b\u003e -- Books of the Year * Telegraph *\u003cbr\u003eA vivid account of the lives of the bed-hopping intellectuals and artists of Paris * The Times *\u003cbr\u003e[Paris] is undeniably a mythic sort of town, and almost no period is richer in myths than the decade that Agnès Poirier charts in her excellent \u003ci\u003eLeft Bank\u003c\/i\u003e…It has a huge cast, any of whom could be the subject of a book on their own, but Poirier marshals them deftly***** * Daily Telegraph *\u003cbr\u003ePoirier's unbounded energy, particularly in research, brings forth an entertaining, stimulating and, at times, insightful book … \u003ci\u003eLeft Bank\u003c\/i\u003e is gloriously vibrant * Sunday Herald *\u003cbr\u003eAmid the tensions of the phoney war, Agnès Poirier deftly establishes what will become the central argument of her \u003cb\u003ewell-researched and compelling book\u003c\/b\u003e: the fraught connection between action and intellectual engagement … \u003ci\u003eLeft Bank\u003c\/i\u003e might not quite come complete with peeling wallpaper and a dubious lavabo, but in \u003cb\u003econjuring the atmosphere of this extraordinary period\u003c\/b\u003e, it is surely the next best thing … \u003cb\u003ePoirier navigates the philosophical and political intricacies of her subjects’ work, their intellectual feuds and alliances, with panache\u003c\/b\u003e * Times Literary Supplement *\u003cbr\u003eWith mastery of her sources, Agnès Poirier provides an engrossing synthesis of a great capital city's cultural and intellectual life in this crucial decade. It is \u003cb\u003eacute, often brilliant and beautifully written\u003c\/b\u003e. When liberal values on both sides of the Atlantic are being threatened by a recrudescence of xenophobia and nationalism, \u003ci\u003eLeft\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eBank\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e could hardly be more timely and vital\u003c\/b\u003e -- Oliver Kamm\u003cbr\u003eDelightful * Economist *\u003cbr\u003eA captivating portrait of those who lived, loved, fought, played and flourished in the City of Light and whose intellectual and artistic output still influences today … The cast of characters is long, varied and colourful * Irish Examiner *\u003cbr\u003eThis is in many ways a very familiar story with a well-known cast of characters, but [Poirier] tells it in vivid and highly enjoyable detail … Poirier’s is an extremely busy book, recounted at a dizzying pace and packed with gossipy tales of sex, drugs, high art and low life … Poirier makes her case with wit, sympathy and elegance -- Andrew Hussey * New Statesman *\u003cbr\u003eEven correcting for nostalgia, Paris in the fifties seems to have been a time when giants really did walk the earth … Gossipy without being prurient, Poirier is good at tracing the links between the work and the ever-shifting sexual liaisons of her subjects * Daily Telegraph *","brand":"Bloomsbury Publishing PLC","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49408012779863,"sku":"9781408857472","price":12.34,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781408857472.jpg?v=1730501268","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/left-bank-9781408857472","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}