John Baxter (1) (1939–)

Better than I thought it was going to be; because I thought it was going to be, "OMG, Paris is so freaking beautiful, this is beautiful, that's beautiful, OMG Paris is so beautiful." Yawn! It wasn't that. It bounced around severely. It was kind of tied together by the author's recounting of how he stumbled into a job giving walking tours of Paris; and some of the fun things he includes on his tours. I liked that all the chapters were super-short. I liked the amount of himself he put into the show more book - enough so you aren't wondering who in the world is speaking to you; but not so much that it's a Me-Me-Me book, which is also boring. Altogether, you'd think that I'd love it. Ultimately, though I hate to sound like an ugly American or a jaded snob, I went to Paris once and I wasn't all that crazy about it. I prefer Italy. show less

Do not buy this book. John Baxter has obviously tried to capitalize on Ballard's death by rushing this poorly researched and dim biography. It was not authorized by Ballard's estate, and it is full of factual errors. Apparently Ballard's daughter, Beatrice, has a document of about six pages of things that Baxter simply got wrong. All of Baxter's accounts have a hearsay, second-hand quality. Ballard scholars have been able to pinpoint some of the sources in print of much of it (all show more secondary), and it seems Baxter even mixes multiple sources together. There are no references listed, so you can't really fact-check any of it. It is of no use to Ballard enthusiasts or to the general reader.

The book seems centered on gossip and Baxter seems intent to paint a crazy, manic picture of Ballard, one that drank heavily and repeatedly abused his girlfriends. I don't know if that's an attempt to "understand" Ballard -- maybe this is what Baxter has instead of genuine insight. He is completely unable to understand Ballard at all (and his attempts to discuss Ballard's actual works are risible -- how can he get this wrong? He could've just read the books) so in order to make sense of books like Crash or The Atrocity Exhibition he inflates this notion that Ballard must be a psychopath just like his characters. Ballard deserves much, much more than this.

There's also the fact that Baxter used to know Ballard back in the 60s. He also tried his hand at writing science fiction, but didn't really succeed. So take what you will... show less

John Baxter knows in infinite detail what makes a book special. He says at one point “Rarity can be created, but not value. That has to be achieved. It gathers on a book like the patina on a bronze, over decades of diligence and care.” He says a lots of things really, and says them well. He’s got a lovely way with words. Talking about a friend’s middle-aged daughter “……she was limp and colourless as a house-dress washed to exhaustion.” Then driving home from the airport in show more Paris, with his ‘new’ French wife (too long a story to tell you here, you’ll have to read the book) his new mother-in-law is driving and having a “machine-gun conversation” with her daughter and “my name surfaced a few times, like a twig in the flood.” Brilliantly descriptive!
Collecting for himself and then becoming a runner, which means hunting down books for other collectors, became his life and eventually led into writing, publishing and broadcasting.
He’s met some interesting people through all this, not always nice people but without doubt, 'interesting'. The middle section of the book isn’t as good as the bits either side in my opinion. However, I've got to admit, the whole of this ‘confession’ couldn't have been written without it.
If you’ve read anything by Clive James where he’s talking about books, for example, Latest Readings, published four years before he died (which I also highly recommend) I’m sure you’ll enjoy this memoir. show less

There may be no better guide through Paris than John Baxter. He is an outsider and an insider, able to look at Paris with both the objective viewpoint of an onlooker and the heart of a Paris lover who has been invited to partake of the secret joys of the Paris life. He is a researcher and a writer who can combine the history of Paris with present-day Paris, the intellectualism of Paris with the bawdiness of Paris, the glory of Paris with the horrors of Paris, the reality of Paris with the show more mystery of Paris.

Baxter formats A Year in Paris around the seasons, and he travels between the past and the present day to create a rich portrait of the city. Baxter draws upon the new calendar created by ne-er-do-well Philippe Fabre d'Eglantine after the peasant revolt of 1789 to underpin the seasonal rhythms of the book, and he shares story-after-little-known-fascinating-story about Paris people, Paris places, Paris events.

It's a joy and a delight of a book. show less