Adam Gopnik

Adam Gopnik, the book's author, was the main figure. Through his descriptions of his experiences in Paris, he revealed himself to be thoughtful and humorous, with wide-ranging interests and an impressive command of the literature, history, popular culture, and politics of both France and the United States. He was neither self-deprecating nor arrogant, but clearly has a positive self-image. His warmth of feeling for his wife and two children was a central aspect of the personality that came through in this book.

Gopnik had a penchant for making associations between small, seemingly insignificant things or events and what he thought they symbolized in larger terms. He constantly sought the macro-revelation in the micro-observation. His love for Paris was heartfelt and one thing that he did not really try to parse or explain. It simply existed, and he made no excuse for accepting the romance of that love...