HOW PARIS BECAME PARIS The Invention of the Modern City

Here's an audiobook in which text and narration seem at odds. Joan Dejean contends that Paris's unique character and appearance evolved in the 1600s--a thesis she develops persuasively, in fascinating detail and excellent prose. Narrator Robert Blumenfeld is a teacher of voice and accents, and his delivery is textbook perfect--but intrusive. His heavy iambic beat overrides the natural syntax of the text. This fine book is recommended. But for now, it's better experienced on the page, with its illustrations close at hand. D.A.W. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine [Published: OCTOBER 2014]