I fell in love with the cover of this book. I only wish the contents were as amazing.

"A name, a birthday an entire life can be invented, and that being so, can be changed."

Eden left her simple life in a small town to start a new life in Paris. She has thoughts of being a writer. While in Paris, she is often daydreaming about all the other African-American expat writers that came to the city before her. Her main goal is to locate the most famous of all these writers, James Baldwin.

The relationships Eden was in and the jobs she held while in Paris were complex and at times risky. Some were interesting. Others were strange and undeveloped. Eden went to Paris to develop creatively but ended up simply trying to survive. ( )

I'd never heard of this book when I got it out of the library. I simply picked it up because I liked the cover art. I didn't even read the blurb on the back to find out what it was about. Black Girl in Paris was a pleasant surprise. This book is about a young black woman who moves to Paris to follow in the footsteps of her literary heroes, mainly James Baldwin.

The story describes her struggle to survive in a foreign city with no work papers and no money. During her time there she has a variety of odd jobs including artist model, nanny, and poet's helper. At one point she even ends up befriending a thief and learning how to steal what she needs.

I liked reading about an account of living in Paris that looked beyond the romantic setting at the hard cold realities of living in the city. I loved reading about the eclectic cast of characters she meets during her stay.

The writing is straight forward and beautiful. I didn't feel compelled to skim any of it. That's something I'm guilty of doing when I think an author is getting a bit too carried away explaining the details.

I'd definitely recommend this book. ( )

Black Girl in Paris by Shay Youngblood is a colorful literary jazz arrangement where the author's narrative improvisations transport the reader through the streets of Paris, deconstructing in their wake many fixed preconceived ideas about France and its influence on African American artists. The interest these virtuosos show for the city of lights is still undeniable in spite of, or due to, the present tumultuous situation between the United States and France. However, one must confront the image of a haven that is free of racism with other more paradoxical representations in order to gauge the full extent of the French influence for African American artists of the twentieth century.

I really enjoyed this book and some quotes give food for thought.Embraces the Blues and the Jazz in the vein of Jean Toomer, Langston Hughes, James Baldwin or Ishmael Reed. Good stuff. ( )

I am a senior citizen, female, white, and I truly enjoyed reading this novel. Youngblood draws a portrait of a young American black woman, Eden, who leaves the security of her family and life in the South to find icreative inspiration from James Baldwin in Paris. Her friendships, romantic relationships, jobs, escapades, are fun, poignant, and at times a little shocking, but the young Eden must be admired for her bravery and determination, as well as for her ability to have empathy for others. ( )

This beautiful book is both a coming-of-age story of Eden, an American woman of color, and an homage to the Paris that Americans flocked to in the '20s and 30s. Eden goes through a series of low paying (and occasionally humiliating) jobs in her search for James Baldwin. Eden reflects on Baldwin's life and his writing as well as her own life as a woman of color in late '80s Paris. Facing violence -- from Parisians, foreign terrorists -- she still finds friends and lovers, and eventually, some of herself. As someone who has always dreamed of escaping to Paris to find myself, living through Eden was an uncomfortable but revealing experience. ( )