I wanted to like it -an expat living in Paris raising his first child but ugh. Esoteric literary snobbery. Long winded. Exhausting. I skimmed a bunch.

I am one of those people (and we are legion) who have an unrequited love affair going with Paris. It's not that Paris disdains or rejects me, of course; Paris has no idea I exist and wouldn't care less if she knew. Sigh.

Adam Gopnik's book is one more love letter from another lover of Paris, and his is an articulate, cultured, experienced voice indeed. He is mostly fluent in French and his love affair has stretched over nearly the whole of his life. This is a book written during and after a five year stint of living in Paris full-time with his wife and their young son who, while born in New York, remembers only Paris as his home by the time he is old enough to remember such things.

Because of his curious nature and the entree assumed by his status as a reporter for The New Yorker, Gopnik has access to people and things that most of us would be hard-pressed to pull off. So much the better, as the stories he tells are fascinating yet down-to-earth. Not that he spends all of his time in the clouds; much of this book details the challenges of being an American living in Paris, the differences that enthrall and needle, and the little failures of everyday life that are somehow amplified by being in a country other than one's own.

If you already have your own affair of the heart going with Paris, or have ever wanted to begin one, this is a great read. If not, you may enjoy it anyway, as Gopnik could likely write a 500-word essay on a turnip and make it interesting. Have fun! Bon appetit!

کتاب رو خیلی دوست داشتم، از اون کتاب هایی که درباره زندگی روزمره نوشته شده ولی با چاشنی فلسفه، کتاب فلسفی نیست ولی چاشنی بهش اضافه کرده که دوست داشتی تر بشه که شده، بحث درباره ذائقه اش رو دوست داشتم. اونجایی که درباره ذائقه خرد و کلان بحث میکنه.
کتاب سعی کرده اون جزئیات زندگی ای که مردمان قدیم داشتن رو توی زندگی مدرن مردم قاطی کنه که بشه لذت بیشتری از زندگی ببرن در جهان مدرن.

Reluctantly I give this book a four star rating. It is extremely well written, although more than occasionally, tedious and pompous. Gopnik, however, does present a perspective of an intellectual expat's life in Paris, that does ring true and will satisfy and fascinate those who long to visit or re-visit Paris. To me, the most revealing chapter(essay really), was the one about the Nazi trial. The structure of the French judicial system and the attitude of the French themselves to the trial, tells a lot about the Parisian lifestyle and its structure and strictures. Being an expat, I relate to his philosophy that expat life is fascinating and educational and satisfying, but necessarily at the same time, unfulfilling due to the absence of intimate relationships with friends and family from"home".
I think many expats have the feeling that expat life is a temporary release from the mundane and stressful life we often experience in our home but we are just biding our time until our next visit to our native land.
Paris to the Moon will make you want to drop everything and move there or decide maybe a holiday visit to Paris is all you really need.

✅معرفی کتاب
کتاب "دیدار اتفاقی با دوست خیالی" مجموعه جستاری است از آدام گاپنیک، نویسنده‌ی کهنه‌کار نیویورکری (نیویورکر یک مجله‌ی ادبی است که تبدیل به یک جریان فکری و سبک نوشتاری شده). بیشتر حجم نوشتارهای او جستار و یادداشت‌هایی است که برای مجله نوشته اما چند کتاب خاطره‌نویسی و جستاری هم از او منتشر شده است.
گاپنیک به‌خاطر موشکافی کردن رویدادهای به‌ظاهر پیش‌پاافتاده در زندگی روزمره بارها تشویق شده است. سبک نوشتاری او شامل جملات ساده و روانی است که یک ماجرای معمولی را قدم‌به‌قدم می‌شکافد و حجم زیادی از اطلاعات را از دلش بیرون می‌کشد. برای مثال اگر رانندگی برایتان یک پدیده‌ی معمولی و تکراری شده کافیه جستار "صندلی راننده" گاپنیک را بخوانید تا ببینید که او تصویر کلیشه‌ای را کنار زده و این پدیده‌ی مدرن شهری را کالبدشکافی کرده است.
روی هم رفته، درون‌مایه‌ی جستارهای گاپنیک بررسی آداب زندگی مدرن امروزی است با فیلترهای مختلف. فرهنگ آمریکایی و ماجراهای شهری به‌خصوص نیویورک (و پاریس چون چندسالی هم آن‌جا زندگی کرده) تاروپود اصلی نوشته‌های اوست و همین باعث شده گاهی بخشی از مطالب برای خواننده‌ی ایرانی جدید باشد و از طرفی بعضی شرح حال دقیق او باشد؛ بله، فرهنگ دهکده‌ی جهانی.
  از خواندن جستارهای گاپنیک و توانایی ذهنی او برای تحلیل فرهنگ مدرن و پیشامدهای روزانه لذت بردم. گاهی تلنگری لازمه تا به آن‌چه مدام در اطراف‌مان تکرار می‌شود جور دیگری نگاه کنیم. بخش‌هایی از جستارها که به مرور و نقد کتاب‌ مربوط می‌شد بخش طلایی کتاب بود، دست می‌گذارم روی جستار "اطلاعات" و ابتدای آن را در ادامه بازمی‌گویم:
✅گزیده کتاب
اینترنت چگونه در ما نفوذ می‌کند؟
وقتی اولین کتاب هری پاتر در سال ۱۹۹۷ به بازار آمد، یک سالی مانده بود تا موتور جستجوی جهانی گوگل شروع به کار کند. برای همین هم هرماینی گرنجر، شاگرد ملیح و درس‌خوان مدرسه، در این کتاب‌ها هنوز به کتابخانه‌ی هاگوارتز می‌رود و ساعت‌های متمادی میان قفسه‌ها می‌چرخد تا بفهمد باسیلیسک چیست یا چطور می‌شود معجون عشق درست کرد....

This book is as much a memoir of parenting a young child as it is an observation of life in Paris. It's wonderfully funny, poignant and smart (it's worth a read alone for Gopnik's takedown of Barney the Purple Dinosaur.) Anyone who has ever lived or spent time abroad will get huge kicks out of his description of the minutiae of living in another country: Not knowing where to buy your coffee, how to find an apartment, or the ways in which Parisian christmas tree lights differ from American ones. I've read this book 4 or 5 times because I find it so charming.

I love, love, love adam gopnik's writing. he can write about tying his shoes and make it sound like the most fascinating subject on earth. this book is about his experience living in paris with his family, a city near and dear to my heart. paris is the perfect subject for his writerly observations. the chapter where he describes his wife's pregnancy and the interactions with the french medical system in contrast to new york (where they had their first child) is fascinating, hilarious and incredibly touching all at once. if i could only have one book to read over and over again it would probably be this one.

Yes, I realize this is getting cliche, but I am putting this book in my category of "Americans abroad." Even though I don't connect to the "isn't raising kids just a gosh darn trip" facet of this book, I think Gopnik is a fantastic writer and his observations about living in Paris and being American ring very true. What's also interesting is that because this book concerns the years 1995 to 2000 (that is Pre-Euro as the currency, Pre-Sarkozy) it is very interesting to see how much France has changed, especially the government rhetoric and policies surrounding organized labor and social security.

این کتاب اولین مواجهه‌ی آگاهانه‌ی من با جستار بود.
به واسطه‌ی دوستی با این سبک آشنا شدم و خودش برایم دو کتاب جستار خرید و گفت با اینکه می‌دونم کلی کتاب برای خوندن داری، ولی این دوتا هم چیزای بدی نیستن.
شروع قرن جدید زندگی‌م کلی کتاب جورواجور با خودم بردم سفر، و کتاب کاپنیک هم بردم تا شبی اگر حوصله‌ام کشید فصلی از اون رو بخونم.
اما داستان کاملا عوض شد. مواجهه‌ی و شیفتگی تازه‌ی من به جستار باعث شد تمام طول عید تنها کتابی که دستم باشد و به خواندنش مشغول، همین کتاب باشد.
نه جستار و هر کدام در موضوعاتی متفاوت، از خاطرات بزرگ کردن فرزند گرفته تا مباحث جدی مثل تفکرات ژئو استراتژیک! از دویدن تا ترس از فناوری‌های جدید، از گرفتن گواهینامه در میانسالی تا نقد روانکاوی‌های فرویدی.
نمیتونم بگم که کتاب خوبی بود یا نه، چون تقریبا اولین جستاریه که با علم به مفهوم جستار بودنش، مطالعه کردم و طبیعتا ازش بسیار لذت بردم، همونطور که کتاب‌هایی که به تصور خودم همگی در دوران عید تموم میشن، رها شدن و این کتاب حالا چند روزی بعد از عید تمام شد و در ساعت چهار صبح اینجا یادداشت میکنم از تجربه‌ی این سفر جدیدم به دنیای جستار...

This book is actually a collection of essays from the New Yorker, and they're very insightful. His arguments mostly stem from his own family's experiences and are naturally just small scenes from which he draws grand conclusions. Like most other authors.

However, his awareness of the political scene and the major infighting going on culturally speaks of a very sharp mind. His essays have enough political analysis to show his intelligence, but then will transition into a colorful story about his son. One essay is about Adam Gopnik and his wife's attempts to keep Barney out of his son's life, and it's absurd, but it makes its point.

In other words, a lot of it is fanciful, but in a charming almost fin de siecle style that I just adore. If you know anything about French culture, you'll laugh many times. :)

Adam Gopnik's memoirs of his times spent in Paris is a Sex and the City for grown ups. Seen through a male perspective, Gopnik's Frasier-like love of France, the arts, fine food and wine and a hatred for cheesy American pop culture (AKA Barney) allows anyone who's ever dreamed of dropping everything and leaving for a more romantic lifestyle the ability to do so vicariously through his family. What's refreshing about Gopnik's writing is that he realizes he's living a ridiculously privileged life where his only problem is keeping his favorite restaurant safe from being taken over by a mass corporation of restaurant buyers. What keeps him grounded is knowing that he can't live this lifestyle forever and must return to NY after five years and get back to the real world. Paris to the Moon brings the reader into the lives of the Gopniks as you experience their everyday Parisian lifestyle and their fantasy lives by visiting them at Christmas time in French department stores, summertime swimming at the Ritz pool club, mingling at Parisian fashion shows, playing pinball at the local cafe, and riding the carousel at the Luxembourg Gardens. I loved this book and would highly recommend it to anyone looking to get away from it all and slip into a snobby fantasy without losing yourself completely.

Mr. Gopnick has me hooked. So many Americans have wondered what daily life in Paris might be like. Now we know. Taking his son to the community pool is my favorite part. Sheesh, those French girls.

Also glad to have read through Mr. Gopnick's guest editor anthology of Best American Essays.