A review by hlogan
Paris by Kati Marton

2.0

I love memoirs. Real people's lives and stories are infinitely more fascinating than fiction any day. This one is supposed to be about her story of falling in love in Paris and with Paris, but it did not hit home for me. I had never heard of Kati Marton before picking it up, but it seems she was married to several powerful and well-known men, so she was kind of a big deal - and makes sure that you know it. Her name-dropping is excessive and exclusionary of anyone in her life who is not famous. We barely hear a word about her children, sister, and friends who aren't a well-known public figure. At one point she dedicates five pages to notes she received from George W Bush, Nelson Mandela, high-level ambassadors, etc., thanking her for her fabulous dinner parties. And when she loses her second husband, presumably she had family and close friends helping her grieve and process her loss, but we don't hear about them; instead, she recounts breathlessly how Bill Clinton stopped by her house unannounced to express his condolences.
The book is ostensibly about Paris, but that thread gets dropped many times throughout the book, and when it gets picked up, it's unconvincing. All in all, not well done. She talks about all the awards and praise she's received for her other books, but I have no desire to read them, after reading this.