Keith Spicer
Photo: Ilona Hurda

Keith Spicer

About The Book

An exuberant, entertaining book for all lovers of France — especially women who cling to romantic illusions, and men who wish they could inspire them. In seventy-two vividly-observed vignettes, profiles and mini-essays, PARIS PASSIONS analyzes France’s public and private lives with sharp eye, sharp tongue and sharp sense of humor. Along the way it conveys an intimate feel for everyday life, with its struggles and strains both financial and multicultural. It’s a quick immersion in French politics, history, culture, economics — and the psychology of a people grappling with old demons and new hopes.


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Paris Passions
Cover photo by kind permission of: La Compagnie Jolie Môme

“Spicer, a kind of cultural James Bond, slides in and out of the bistros and salons of French society as easily as 007 quaffs a martini ... a delightful book.”

— Jim Bittermann, CNN’s Senior European Correspondent

“To Keith Spicer's loving and amused eye, Paris is still a moveable feast. We should be thankful to his acute and witty pen for reminding us of the unique charms and idiosyncracies of this most unusual and exotic city.”

François Bujon de l’Estang, Chairman, Citibank, Europe, former French ambassador to Canada, then the United States

“How to love Paris: the handbook.”

— Jacques Rigaud, longtime President of Radio-Television Luxembourg (France)

“Keith Spicer is a master painter who reveals deep truths behind misleading appearances. He describes the strange customs of Paris natives — sometimes with impertinence, always with humor, and above all with a constant tenderness.”

— Henri Pigeat, former CEO of the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency

"Canadian and ex-pat journalist provides a whimsical guide to his many passions in Paris. Both thoroughly accessible and exhaustively thorough, the book places Spicer’s journey through Paris and its surrounding suburbs within a global and historical context. " More ...

— Kirkus Discoveries