Paris has inspired more writing than almost any other city. Here are some of the best books to read before, during, or after your visit.
Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell — Orwell's account of poverty in 1920s Paris, working as a plongeur in restaurant kitchens and sleeping in doss-houses. One of the most vivid portraits of the city ever written, and still recognisable in parts.
A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway — Hemingway's memoir of life in Paris in the 1920s among the expatriate writers and artists of the Lost Generation. Lyrically written and occasionally dishonest, but essential reading for anyone walking the Left Bank.
Père Goriot by Honoré de Balzac — Balzac's great novel of ambition and sacrifice in Restoration Paris. The boarding house in the Latin Quarter and the social hierarchies of the period are drawn with the precision of a sociologist.
Eugénie Grandet by Honoré de Balzac — Another Balzac novel that captures the mercantile obsessions and provincial claustrophobia of 19th-century France. A counterpoint to the glittering Paris of his other novels.
The Flâneur by Edmund White — A short, essayistic guide to walking Paris by the American novelist who lived there for sixteen years. Wonderfully opinionated and specific about neighbourhoods.
Paris: The Secret History by Andrew Hussey — A revisionist history of Paris that foregrounds the city's violent, criminal, and revolutionary underside rather than its cultural achievements. Long but rewarding.
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo — Hugo's novel saved Notre-Dame from demolition in the 19th century; his descriptions of medieval Paris remain vivid even in translation.