I WROTE THIS BOOK IN PARIS AND I WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO explore the city if it had not been for Bill Keller, the Executive Editor of The New York Times, who sent me here, and Alison Smale and Marty Gottlieb from The International Herald Tribune who put a professional roof over my head. My thanks to all of them.
I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my friend Richard Berry, a masthead editor at the Herald Tribune, who spotted stories I did not, deftly erased errors before they could do harm and kept our operation honest. He gave wise advice, made funny jokes, took time to read the manuscript of this book out of hours and, in the office, remained il miglior fabbro.
Yet again, my wife, Sue Cullinan, showed patience and forbearance for my mental absences as I worked on the book, as did my daughters. I am perennially grateful to them for indulging me.
At Inkwell Management in New York, Michael Carlisle was agent, friend and advisor, and I am grateful to Peter Mayer and The Overlook Press in New York for his trust and counsel and to Stephanie Gorton for shepherding the project to fruition.
—ALAN COWELL
Paris, May 2011.