Overview

The iconic, strolling Paris flaneur of the 19th century often expressed his ironic observations of the spectacular city he loved in paint, prose and poetry. Celebrated artist-flaneurs like Honore de Balzac, Charles Baudelaire and their 20th-century successors -- from Andre Breton's surrealists to Jean-Paul Sartre's existentialists -- have served up brilliant, if sometimes dark, images of the City of Light. Now, following in their august footsteps, Berkeley writer and artist L. John Harris channels the historic flaneur with his witty cafe French lessons and whimsical illustrations taken from his Paris cafe journals. While Cafe French proposes to guide fellow Francophiles on a journey into the cultural and linguistic codes and canons of Paris cafe culture, the author--with a dash of Dada--chronicles his own discoveries: the cafes he inhabits, the language he struggles to learn, the food he eats and the dreams he pursues in the city he loves. In the end, Harris of Paris returns home to Berkeley where he transforms his journal entries and sketches into a curious curriculum. Cafe French, a delightful book that will instruct and amuse Paris newcomers and veterans alike -- all who yearn for a taste of the flaneur's creative cafe lifestyle.

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9780578485379

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A native of Los Angeles, California, L. John Harris studied art at the University of California at Berkeley from 1965-1969. Through the 1970's, while working part time at some of Berkeley's legendary food businesses - the Cheese Board, Chez Panisse and The Swallow cafe - Harris worked as a journalist and wrote The Book of Garlic (1974) which inspired garlic festivals and garlic theme restaurants from California to New York. In 1981, Harris founded Aris Books, a specialty cookbook publisher and in 1988 launched his Foodoodle cartoon byline in several Bay Area magazines. Harris' most recent illustrated book, Cafe French: A Flaneur's Guide to the Language, Lore and Food of the Paris Cafe won the 2019 Paris Book Festival award in the travel book category. Harris lives in Berkeley, California in a 100-year-old Bernard Maybeck-designed residence (Villa Maybeck) that serves as a venue for cultural and musical events, many featuring his collection of historic guitars. He is Curator of the Harris Guitar Collection at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. A native of Los Angeles, California, L. John Harris studied art at the University of California at Berkeley from 1965-1969. Through the 1970's, while working part time at some of Berkeley's legendary food businesses - the Cheese Board, Chez Panisse and The Swallow cafe - Harris worked as a journalist and wrote The Book of Garlic (1974) which inspired garlic festivals and garlic theme restaurants from California to New York. In 1981, Harris founded Aris Books, a specialty cookbook publisher and in 1988 launched his Foodoodle cartoon byline in several Bay Area magazines. Harris' most recent illustrated book, Cafe French: A Flaneur's Guide to the Language, Lore and Food of the Paris Cafe won the 2019 Paris Book Festival award in the travel book category. Harris lives in Berkeley, California in a 100-year-old Bernard Maybeck-designed residence (Villa Maybeck) that serves as a venue for cultural and musical events, many featuring his collection of historic guitars. He is Curator of the Harris Guitar Collection at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

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