PARIS IS NOT DEAD | A Busboys and Poets Books Presentation
Date and Time
Oct 16, 2023 6:00 pm
Location
14th & V
2021 14th St NW, Washington, District of Columbia, 20009
Oct 16, 2023 6:00 pm
14th & V
The Paris of popular imagination is lined with cobblestone streets and stylish cafés, a beacon for fashionistas and well-heeled tourists. But French-American journalist Cole Stangler, celebrated for his reporting on Paris and French politics, argues that the beating heart of the City of Light lies elsewhere—in its striving, working-class districts whose residents are being priced out of their hometown today. PARIS IS NOT DEAD explores the past, present, and future of the City of Light through the lens of class conflict, highlighting the outsized role of immigrants in shaping the city’s progressive, cosmopolitan, and open-minded character—at a time when politics nationwide can feel like they’re shifting in the opposite direction. This is the Paris many tourists too often miss: immigrant-heavy districts such as the 18th arrondissement, where crowded street markets still define everyday life. Stangler brings this view of the city to life, combining gripping, street-level reportage, stories of today’s working-class Parisians, recent history, and a sweeping analysis of the larger forces shaping the city.
In the tradition of Lucy Sante and Mike Davis, PARIS IS NOT DEAD offers a bottom-up portrait of one of the world’s most vital urban centers—and a call to action to Francophiles and all who care about the future of cities everywhere.
Cole Stangler is joining us on the Busboys stage to share his take on hypergentrification and the future of cities in conversation with author Vanessa A. Bee. Copies of the book will be available for purchase during and after the event, and Stangler will be signing following the program.
This event is free and open to all. Our program begins at 6:00 pm, and will be followed by an audience Q&A. Copies of PARIS IS NOT DEAD will be available for purchase before and after the event. Please note that this event is IN PERSON and will not be livestreamed.
We ask that guests RSVP in order to receive direct updates about the event from Busboys and Poets Books
Cole Stangler is a journalist based in Marseille, France. A contributor to The Nation, Jacobin, and the international news network France 24, he has also published work in the New York Times, the Washington Post, The Guardian, Foreign Policy, and other outlets. He is the author of PARIS IS NOT DEAD (New Press, 2023).
Vanessa A. Bee is a consumer protection lawyer, essayist, and the author of HOME BOUND: REFLECTED OF AN UPROOTED DAUGHTER. Her nonfiction writing has appeared in N+1, The Cut, The New Republic, The Nation, and Guernica, among others. Her fiction has appeared in Catapult Magazine. She lives in Takoma Park, MD.
