The Flaneur of Paris

This book gives us glimpses of literary Paris before and during the First World War. We have a guided tour of Auteuil, where Apollinaire spent his saddest days. We meet Monsieur Lehec the bookseller, who loved his books so much that 'he could bring himself to sell them only to the few he deemed worthy of acquiring them' and Liseux the publisher, who, when asked his political views, replied: 'I am a republican, but of the republic of letters.'The Flaneur of Paris was published in the year of Apollinaire's death. More than a century later, it makes its debut in English, elegantly translated by Alex Andriesse. From the Cafe Napo to Ernest La Jeunesse's room, from an obscure Napoleonic museum to Monsieur Vollard's cellar, The Flaneur of Paris is a fragmented song, inviting us to walk down to the Seine. Alex Andriesse is a poet and has translated, notably, Chateaubriand's Memoirs from Beyond the Grave (NYRB Classics), Cristina Campo's The Unforgivable (NYRB Classics), and Jacques Dupin's Notched (Hermits United).