Impossible City: Paris in the Twenty-First Century

Kuper, a Financial Times columnist, has written one of the best books about Paris by an expatriate. He passes over the stereotypical observations quickly. To thrive in Parisian society, one must dress well, speak French comfortably, defer to snooty waiters, cultivate networks without seeming to do so, and display wit and charm rather than sincerity at dinner parties. At the same time, Kuper deftly debunks the alarmist narrative that describes a city drowning in riots, terrorism, Islamic fundamentalism, and anti-Semitism. Having spent the last two decades making Paris his home, he reveals a city of tolerance and nuance. His kids decode Paris’s polyglot street slang and introduce him to the multi­ethnic world of youth soccer. His journalism allows him to unpack the cozy, secretive, and often corrupt dealings of the elites. He traces Paris’s recent emergence as Europe’s number one destination for foreign investment and high technology. Above all, he leaves the familiar touristy Parisian core, with its two million residents, and explores the diverse suburbs that house the other ten million Parisians. Thanks to muscular government efforts to provide affordable housing and amenities, he concludes, Paris is an emerging model for twenty-first-century multi­ethnic urban life.