Rating: 
Summary: I'll take "Paris to the Moon"!
Review: Comparing Adam Gopnik's "Paris to the Moon" to any of Peter Mayle's books is like comparing Carl Jung to Deepak Chopra. Chopra offers "quick fixes" for an ailing soul, but Jung's intellectual and deeply insightful approach to what ails mankind has the power to transform the soul. Likewise, both Gopnik and Mayle write about France and French culture, but, unlike Mayle, Adam Gopnik offers a truly critical assessment of the culture in which he immersed himself. Gopnik's insights transcend Mayle's casual observations, and his candor obviously makes some people uncomfortable (truth often does). Compared to Gopnik, Mayle is "light reading": It's certainly enjoyable but doesn't have much substance; it offers little or no "food for thought." Gopnik's writing reflects his background (journalism/teaching), just as Mayle's reflects his (advertising). I personally prefer Gopnik's intellectualizing of la vie parisienne to Mayle's selling of Provence by the pound!
Rating:
Summary: Le grand morceau d'art
Review: I was saddened when the last page was turned but look forward to Adam Gopnik's next book.
Rating: 
Summary: It has it's good points...
Review: I read Paris to the Moon because I am interested in the cultural differences between Europe and America. There is a reasonable amount of cultural description in this book. I wish there had been more, but there was enough to make it worth the time. Without question, this book has some long, dull stretches. There is a very apparent "proud papa" element in many of the essays. (That is not necessarily a bad thing.) As other readers have noted, much of this material has nothing to do with Paris or France or even Europe really. But overall it was a pleasant enough book. I would call it "diversion reading." I must add that I have become very suspicious of most of the 5-star ratings we see here in the Amazon customer reviews. Shouldn't 5 stars be reserved for those rare books that have a lasting impact on our culture? Obviously, Paris to the Moon is not in that league.
Rating: 
Summary: Gopnik does no favors for Parisian tourism
Review: The french tourism industry must be steaming over Gopnik's new book, Paris to the Moon, which makes Paris look more like the "city of boredom" than "the city of romance." The writing style is off-putting with run-on sentences and attempts to show off a pseudo intellectualism. A few rare moments of gleaming insight and humour hardly make up for the long periods of dull reading. I could have had a more enjoyable "parisian experience" sitting in my own living room with a cup of cafe au lait eating a croissant and listening to Edith Piaf...and saved alot more money too!
Rating: 
Summary: Une tres grande DUD!
Review: Despite what he may think of himself, Janet Flanner lived in Paris, Janet Flanner wrote about Paris for the New Yorker, and Adam Gopnik ain't no Janet Flanner. He seems to have two tasks here: bragging to the reader how much he knows, and talking about his son. The first is pretentious, difficult to read; the latter is arduous to even skim over, impossible to stomach. This book is to Flanner (and Henry Miller, too) what those cheesy General Mills International Coffees are to real cappuccino. Get the real stuff instead!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully personable and entertaining
Review: This book had me laughing out loud. For any American who's spent any length of time in Paris, this is a must read. All of the idiosyncracies possible - from language to driving to dogs - are experienced through Gopnik in full humility and blush. A lovely read for those who don't care about literary exactness. This man has style and expressive ability beyond compare.
Rating:
Summary: Is this your niche?
Review: When you decide to read a collection of essays, you have to keep in mind that what you are about to read is going to contain some first-person experiences. The writer relates stories that occurred in his or her life and you will be able to relate to some of them, but likely not all.I got this book because I heard an NPR book show in which two "experts" recommended this book as a wonderful winter read, especially for anyone that has been to Paris. The book was entertaining, but certainly not great. Gopnik writes in long sentences and often digress mid-sentence to an entirely new thought. The reader is then forced to go back to the beginning of the sentance to pick up the original meaning in order to get the full idea. I found this to be annoying, so I subtracted a star for that. The first four essays took sheer determination to get through...I was certain that it had to get better if these experts on NPR were so wowed by the book. I guess I was expecting more explanation about things like Christmas in France besides what type of garland and lights they use. The lights were an interesting side-bar, but certainly not worthy of an entire chapter. Minus half-star for that. And, I suppose I have to agree with previous reviewers that Gopnik sort of has this better-than-you attitude that comes across in his writing. Minus another half-star for that.
Rating:
Summary: dissapointing
Review: I love Gopnik's New Yorker work, but this was a real let down. The writing is good, but it rambles and is like he felt he must come up with an idea for a book - should have been an article. Just doesn't hold the interest.
Rating:
Summary: "The French they are a crazy bunch..." Now learn why.
Review: Paris to the Moon made me want to visit Paris while it confirmed all the reasons why I don't want to go to Paris. Paris to the Moon not only presents heavenly descriptions of people, places and meals, it is also an exploration and explanation of the haughty, argumentative, sublimely ridiculous French character. The French, you see, are different. Really different. They don't act as they do just to be contrary (that implies they understand us, which they don't.). And they don't appear to despise us from arrogance or jealousy. It's just the way they are made, Gopnik explains. The French brain has its own operating system based on a unique central premise. America is about things. France is about making. End result vs. process. What vs. how. That is the central truth Gopnik brilliantly uncovers through his examinations of French cuisine, Christmas politics and swimming pools. He's witty, pithy and wonderfully lucid. If I had stopped to copy into my nonce book every fine turn of phrase or crystallized truth, I'd be months and month's reading Paris to the Moon. Paris to the Moon is a 5-star travel book. Read it and you will not only feel that you know Paris, you will know your home and your self better.
Rating:
Summary: Babbling of the year award
Review: Another Anglo-American expat to bat in France. And another strikeout. At least Polly Platt was pointed, and her account was based on years in France. Peter Mayle was funny...well, at least his first book was. Try as he might to emulate Mayle, Gopnik is downright boring. His pseudo-intellectual babbling, based on a whopping 5 years in Paris, bounces erratically from topic to insipid topic. His prolix exacerbates the reading effort, and most will probably give up on it by the time they get to his analysis on soccer, which is even more boring than the game itself. Who could possibly find of interest a comparison between the wooden Christmas-tree anchors the French use, and the water-filled steel pots of Americans? Who could possibly care about what a grown man thinks of a harmless televisione show (Barney) for infants? It makes one long to see his reaction when his kid starts listening to AC/DC and watching Walker Texas Ranger. Gopnik's only accurate point concerns the embarrassment with which American tourists shower themselves--hardly a novel observation. Speaking of America, someone needs to remind this east-coast writer that part of the USA exists west of the Hudson. Even if this book were funny, and even if it had a point, it fell too close to Mayle's wake to make a splash. Only readers with great stamina will be able to plow through this compilation of shallow generalizations.
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