In 1925 Flanner began her New Yorker Letter from Paris, from which most of the pieces in this collection are drawn. They give an incomparable view of French life before World War II.
Janet Tyler Flanner was an American writer and journalist who served as the Paris correspondent of The New Yorker magazine from 1925 until she retired in 1975. She wrote under the pen name "Genêt". and published a single novel, "The Cubical City", set in New York City.