Paris Street Tales

Description

Paris Street Tales is the third volume of a trilogy of translated stories set in Paris. The previous two editions are Paris Tales, in which each story is associated with one of the twenty arrondissements, and Paris Metro Tales, in which the twenty-two stories are related to a trip around the Paris Metro. This new volume contains seventeen newly-translated stories related to particular streets in Paris and one newly-written tale of the city. The stories range from the nineteenth century to the present day and include tales by well-known writers such as Colette, Maupassant, Didier Daeninckx, and Simenon, and less familiar names such as Francis Carco, Aurelie Filipetti, and Arnaud Baignot. They present a vivid picture of Paris streets in a variety of literary styles and tones. Simenon's Maigret is called upon to solve a mystery on the Boulevard Beaumarchais; a flaneur learns some French history through second-hand objects retrieved from the Seine; a nineteenth-century affair in the Rue de Miromesnil goes badly wrong; a body is discovered on the steps of the smallest street in Paris. Through these stories we see how the city has changed over the last two centuries and what has survived. All of the tales in the book are translated apart from the last, a new story by David Constantine, based on the last days of the poet Gerard de Nerval. Cover Paris Street Tales COPYRIGHT CONTENTS Picture Credits INTRODUCTION Chapter 1: Rue des Degrés Chapter 2: Streets Chapter 3: The Rendez-vous Chapter 4: Tableau Parisien Chapter 5: Rue de la Tacherie Chapter 6: Old Iron Chapter 7: Rue Saint-Sulpice Chapter 8: The Freedom of the Streets Chapter 9: A Rapist Shouts One Night in Montparnasse Chapter 10: Lost Street Cries Chapter 11: Rue de la Chine Chapter 12: The Affair on the Boulevard Beaumarchais Chapter 13: Rooftop over the Champs-Élysées Chapter 14: The Cheeky Pigeon that Shaton People’s Heads Chapter 15: The Street is not Enough Chapter 16: Rue Pigalle Chapter 17: Hold-up in the Rue Ordener Chapter 18: The Tree with Three Branches Chapter 19: Rue de la Vieille Lanterne 1 2 3 4 NOTES ON THE STORIES Introduction [1] [2] [3] [4] [6] [7] [9] [13] [16] [17] [19] Notes on the Authors Selected Further Reading On Paris Anthologies of French Short Stories Publisher’s Acknowledgements