I've been loving reading about this era so this sounded right up my alley. It's not the easiest book, it's a little of a dry read. If you want more facts about the who and what of that time, this works well.

An interesting look at Paris in the 1920's... I love this time period and always enjoy the opportunity to learn more about it! Fans of the Lost Generation may want to check this one out. Thanks for the opportunity to explore this title.

The story of Paris and its inhabitants both local and foreign emerging from the horrors of World War and almost desperately trying to take back the lost years by engaging in a spell of unhindered abandon of pleasure and throwing back all inhibitions and standards of years past.


The 1920s of Paris with its history of rich and well known names from Hemingway, Jo Barker, Joyce, Cocteau make up for a heady background of how the rich, the not so rich and the poor fared in this city. Change in every sphere not just entertainment but Art, architecture and then something unexpected, the change in behavior.

There did not seem to be any holds barred and life for those living in Paris knew no boundaries. Fascinating account of how life was lived and loved and how tradition was overthrown for living life to the fullest. It also depicts the rise of an undercurrent of unrest which will have unhappy consequences in the not so distant future.

For people with a penchant for history, also for those with a liking for Paris, and for what the city has been - just different.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book; it was not to my taste, however, and I will not be completing it. I have not rated or reviewed this book. (The rating below is because a star rating is required by Netgalley, and is not reflective of an opinion.)

The 1920's my favorite period. Mostly, because I am enchanted by the very F. Scott Fitzgerald themes of opulence and ultimately doomed dreams, but also because the period was was just home to so many interesting historical figures. Last December, Christmas Day in fact, I visited Paris and it was only then that I began to see some of the figures from this book come to life all around me. It's a straight-forward, interesting window into the past. I loved this book.

Maybe if this book were organized differently, possibly based on events or grouping artists, writers, scientists, etc., I might have liked it more. Instead the organization was chronological. The author did a lot of research, but the result is a dry recitation of facts, many of them trivial, about a group of accomplished and interesting people. This book wasn't what I was expecting and it just wasn't for me. I received a free copy of the ebook from the publisher but I listened to the audiobook borrowed from the library.

I'm a big fan of the time period so this was right up my alley. A fun, engrossing read.

Pris at the 20's is the best time ever, not necessary for live but for watch at this moment is just awesome

I have found that my reading tastes have changed quite a bit over the past few years and that I have come to really enjoy a good non-fiction book. I'm fascinated by history (my high school teachers would have told you that this was to be an unlikely scenario) and history of subjects dear to me (literature and the arts) are of supreme interest. <em>When Paris Sizzled</em> is a look at Paris, France in the 1920's when the arts were vibrant and personalities such as Ernest Hemingway and Josephine Baker and Cole Porter (and many others) were regulars on the scene.

I absolutely love the jazz-age era and this group of artists and literary figures couldn't be more appealing to me so I expected to be thoroughly infatuated with this book. But I wasn't.

The book is extremely well researched and this isn't just a history of Paris in the 1920's but it's also a chronicle and biography of some of the more interesting personalities of the era - the people who made Paris of 1920 a hip place to be.

But considering how vibrant and exciting these lives were (or at least our expectations of these lives), this book does not capture the vibrancy and excitement of the jazz era or these people. The book reads a bit too dry, matter-of-factly recording events rather than letting the reader experience them.

Given the fiction-like nature many non-fiction books take now (I'm think of Bill O'Reilly's "Killing" biographies and a few other non-fiction books I've read recently), readers are getting spoiled and we expect more than a dry dissertation. Mary McAuliffe does a decent job (again - the research itself is tremendous) but just doesn't give it that extra bit that really lets us enjoy it

I expect I'll refer to this when researching the era (which I expect to do in the not-too-distant-future), but I can't recommend this as one of the better non-fiction titles I've read recently.

Looking for a good book? <em>When Paris Sizzled: The 1920s Paris of Hemingway, Chanel, Cocteau, Cole Porter, Josephine Baker, and Their Friends</em>, by Mary McAuliffe, is a wonderfully researched book but doesn't capture the excitement of the era the way one would hope.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

An excellent overview of 1920s Paris. Humorous and full of fascinating information.

This author sets a fascinating and elaborate table of the shining lights of Paris, pre WW2. We get to organize these wonderful artists according to who they knew, their relationships, their wildly varying characters and what each did. Getting to know them in context is much more interesting than studying each on his/her own. Paris truly did sizzle and if you,ve never been there I can tell you it's still smokin,.