A review by dianametzger
Солодке життя в Парижі by David Lebovitz

1.0

Ugh, I just couldn't get behind this book at all. I read it before going to Paris for a sort of preparation and because his blog was recommended to me. The recipes he scattered in the book look delicious and maybe he should stick to that. The stories he told were so boring and pointless--who cares about going to the doctor or returning an ice cream scoop on Paris. These weren't funny, unique, or particularly clever anecdotes. And maybe a lot has changed in the 7 years since this book was published or Parisians have gotten kinder and less judgmental but my experience spending 2 weeks in Paris I felt much more welcome and warm than Lebovitz felt. I know as an ex pat living is different than visiting but still... I guess I just found this book so defensive and unnecessary. The recipes seemed thrown in and not remotely tied into the prose. I felt like in the 2 weeks I was in Paris I had more quirky and detailed stories to tell than Lebovitz did. This was just a huge letdown of a book.