Description
"[This] is a book about self-discovery, an absorbing, original tale about the questions we all end up confronting as we grapple with the interplay between who we are and who we think we want to be.'"xa0-- New York Times Book Review , Robin Black "Sneed is very good at elucidating the doubts that plague many women when it comes to their careers. 'Why do you make a joke of your ambition?' Laurent asks Jayne. 'It isn't a joke.' This frothy novel, about sex and secrets in the city of light, contains many observations about womanhood, personhood and the ever elusive but never-too-late-to-learn 'knack for happiness.'"xa0-- O Magazine , Julia Pierpont"Sneed allows readers to revel in Paris' celebrated light while walking its wide boulevards and cobblestone streets. If you love the City of Light or have always wanted to travel there, "Paris, He Said" is worth a visit. You'll come for the story but stay for Sneed's painterly homage to the city's art and culture." --Carol Memmott, Chicago Tribune "Sneed judiciously dramatizes gender expectations, the 'erotic imagination,' the struggles of women artists, and the divide between outward appearance and inner realities. An alluring, provocative novel about the coalescence of the self and the art of living." xa0--Donna Seaman, Booklist "On the surface, Paris, He Said is an entertaining romantic fantasy, but Sneed has crafted a literary work concerned with trade-offs. What do people give up for their various passions and how do they get comfortable with themselves?" --Toni Nealie, Newcity "Sneed, whose previous novel, Little Known Facts, drew considerable acclaim, expertly keeps the pages turning in this delightful novel. Paris, He Said offers readers, too, an entertaining escape from the mundanities of daily life. With clever and graceful prose, Sneed deftly guides a story that explores whether satisfaction follows when all one's deepest wishes come true." - BookPage , Kelly Blewett Christine Sneed is the author of Little Known Facts . She has a creative writing MFA from Indiana University and teaches creative writing at DePaul University, Northwestern University and Pacific University. Portraits of a Few of the People I've Made Cry won AWP's 2009 Grace Paley Prize in Short Fiction, was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, first-fiction category, was named the Chicago Writer's Association Book of the Year, and the recipient of Ploughshares' 2011 first-book prize, the John C. Zacharis Award. It was also long-listed for the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award and named one of the seven best books of the year by Time Out Chicago . Her stories have appeared or are forthcoming in Best American Short Stories , PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories , Ploughshares, Southern Review, Massachusetts Review, New England Review, Notre Dame Review, and a number of other journals. Visit her website at http://www.christinesneed.com. Read more
Features & Highlights
- Jayne Marks is questioning the choices she has made in the years since college and is struggling to pay her bills in Manhattan when she is given the opportunity to move to Paris with her wealthy lover and benefactor, Laurent Moller, who owns and operates two art galleries, one in New York, the other in Paris. He offers her the time and financial support she needs to begin her career as a painter and also challenges her to see who and what she will become if she meets her artistic potential. Laurent, however, seems to have other women in his life and Jayne, too, has an ex-boyfriend, much closer to her own age, whom she still has feelings for. Bringing Paris gloriously to life,
- Paris, He Said
- is a novel about desire, beauty, and its appreciation, and of finding yourself presented with the things you believe you've always wanted, only to wonder where true happiness lies.
