These days, when I go online, it seems nearly impossible to avoid bad news. Between Covid, the U.S. election, the response to the BLM movement, and many other raw subjects, it’s tough to remain positive. My post this week is an attempt to avoid the merde and focus on man’s…
This week I re-watched an unforgettable film that I discovered in 2013 while writing a paper on Algeria. La Bataille d’Alger, released in 1966 and banned in France for more than 5 years, is a remarkable movie, by Italian journalist and filmmaker Gillo Pontecorvo. The screenplay, written by Yacef Saâdi,…
Last week I introduced readers to the larger-than-life Kiki de Montparnasse. Kiki was a flamboyant artist’s model and muse of many notable painters, sculptors, and photographers living in Paris during les années folles, or 1920s. Born into poverty and abandoned by her parents, Kiki found herself alone on the streets…
There are many reasons why I love my public library and high on the list is its world language section. Over the years, regularly browsing the French stacks, I’ve often noticed the book Kiki de Montparnasse, by Catel Muller and José-Louis Bocquet. For whatever reason, the cover blurb never managed…
Back-to-school starts for my family on Monday when my son returns to campus and my husband, Andy, resumes teaching a class at the University of Michigan. The following week, my daughters will embark on their senior year of high school. There’s been abundant talk about how kids, parents, and teachers…
