Elaine Sciolino

Excellent, full of serious scholarship, lightly worn. Warm and funny. A gift to those of us expats who've thrown in our lot with the mysterious and intriguing French.

Oh, this makes me yearn to speak fluent French to be able to open doors to such experiences in one of my favorite cities.

Light and entertaining look at the people and their trades, some history and some religion of one street in Paris.

This book was part travel story, part sociology, part cultural studies, and part gossip and a thorough delight to read. It reminded me of the apartment we had rented in Paris for a brief stay just a couple of blocks from the rue de Martyrs which the book discussed. It made me want to go back, to stay longer, to learn French and to once again be in love with being in a foreign country, with unfamiliar people and a culture that I envy.