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A review by trin
Flâneuse: Women Walk the City in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Venice, and London by Lauren Elkin
2.0
The first problem with this book is that I've read better versions of it multiple times. [a:Maeve Brennan|172661|Maeve Brennan|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1417923313p2/172661.jpg]'s [b:The Long-Winded Lady|299435|The Long-Winded Lady Notes from The New Yorker|Maeve Brennan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328050456s/299435.jpg|290509], [a:Vivian Gornick|75060|Vivian Gornick|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1260777260p2/75060.jpg]'s [b:The Odd Woman and the City|22929524|The Odd Woman and the City A Memoir|Vivian Gornick|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1420944842s/22929524.jpg|42499074], [a:Kate Bolick|8435477|Kate Bolick|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1420003385p2/8435477.jpg]'s [b:Spinster|26804054|Spinster Making a Life of One's Own|Kate Bolick|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1443020354s/26804054.jpg|42459922] -- even [a:Edmund White|15975|Edmund White|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1386885403p2/15975.jpg]'s [b:The Flaneur|109724|The Flaneur A Stroll through the Paradoxes of Paris|Edmund White|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1369505859s/109724.jpg|16186642] does a better job discussing marginalized groups walking the streets of Paris. My favorite flânerie, I think, is about looking outward: observing others, watching the buildings and the streets. Elkin's book seems to be primarily about how much she loves France, how much she hates Tokyo, a really bad boyfriend that she had...in short, about Elkin. This could still be interesting if she made herself a rich, complex subject, but -- she doesn't.
And good god, that Tokyo chapter. TOKYO IS UGLY COMPARED TO PARIS AND THEY EAT GROSS FOOD YOU GUYS. It's 35 pages of the worst white girl whining. How is this still considered acceptable (publishable) travel writing/cultural commentary/anything? Elkin claims you can't walk in Tokyo -- which, since I tragically have not been (making me especially fond of the passages where Elkin bemoaned her boyfriend's company paying for her to fly and live there), I can't actually dispute, but having read a ton of wonderful, wandering [a:Murakami|3354|Haruki Murakami|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1470611596p2/3354.jpg] novels -- and even the white guy travelogues of, say, [a:Will Ferguson|21042|Will Ferguson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1232853650p2/21042.jpg] -- I view with extreme skepticism. Also, "the men slurp their noodles." Elkin doesn't put the adjective Japanese in there, but it is more than just implied; it's a given. Ew.
Two stars because the chapter on Agnès Varda was a small oasis of excellence -- the only section of the book that seemed truly in the spirit of flânerie: probably more a credit to Varda than to the author.
And good god, that Tokyo chapter. TOKYO IS UGLY COMPARED TO PARIS AND THEY EAT GROSS FOOD YOU GUYS. It's 35 pages of the worst white girl whining. How is this still considered acceptable (publishable) travel writing/cultural commentary/anything? Elkin claims you can't walk in Tokyo -- which, since I tragically have not been (making me especially fond of the passages where Elkin bemoaned her boyfriend's company paying for her to fly and live there), I can't actually dispute, but having read a ton of wonderful, wandering [a:Murakami|3354|Haruki Murakami|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1470611596p2/3354.jpg] novels -- and even the white guy travelogues of, say, [a:Will Ferguson|21042|Will Ferguson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1232853650p2/21042.jpg] -- I view with extreme skepticism. Also, "the men slurp their noodles." Elkin doesn't put the adjective Japanese in there, but it is more than just implied; it's a given. Ew.
Two stars because the chapter on Agnès Varda was a small oasis of excellence -- the only section of the book that seemed truly in the spirit of flânerie: probably more a credit to Varda than to the author.