Desperately Seeking Paris
Throughout the nineteenth century, the ‘fairground’ —loosely translated as the ‘sideshow’ of the traveling circuses of the day—was a popular theme with the press and artists alike.
Anchoring an exhibition of 100 related works on this theme at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is a masterpiece of the museum’s collection, the sublime Circus Sideshow (Parade de cirque) painted in 1887-88 by Georges Seurat (1859-1891).
Read MoreOn St Patrick’s Day, where better to celebrate than at Balthazar, the lively French brasserie in SOHO owned by the restaurateur Kevin McNally.
For twenty years, Balthazar has been packing in the crowds from 7:30 in the morning until 1:00 in the morning, a mind-boggling accomplishment. But what accounts for the on-going popularity in this restaurant-fickle city?
Read MoreThere's great news this week, but let me start with a fantastic sale. It's hard to believe, but on May 9th Veronica's Grave: A Daughter's Memoir will be celebrating its First Birthday.
To honor all books published by She Writes Press in Spring 2016, the publisher is running a one week sale of those books. Starting now. There are 36 books to choose from, and each can be downloaded for pennies! To be exact for 99 cents each.
If you're feeling reflective, there are a number of memoirs to check out. If you're looking for historical fiction or a riveting mystery, you will find them on the list. All you need do is click here
Read MoreHello, Guys and Gals!
Thank you so much for all the birthday wishes! It was an amazing day filled with greeting cards, email cards, flowers (even my local florist sent flowers!), phone calls, and emails from relatives and friends all over the country. Many of whom have been celebrating with me for a lifetime.
And, of course, there were messages from Facebook friend, who have entered my life more recently, bringing with them richness and warmth. I’m grateful for everyone who made the day special. Especially for my husband who wined me and dined me at the fabulous candlelit Le Coucou.
Read MoreHappy Valentine’s Day!
So many of you have read Veronica’s Grave, and I’m grateful for your support—for the outpouring of kind words and, of course, for the glowing reviews you've posted on various platforms.
Now, in this month of love, Amazon has sent me a 'Valentine’ I’d like to share with you...
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On my last three trips to Paris, I’ve chosen to stay in the Marais, not because of its international clientele, lovely art galleries, and trendy boutiques, but for the glimpses it offers of the history of Paris, dating to the 13th century.
Opening the Travel section of today’s New York Times (Sunday, February 5, 2017), I was delighted to find “My Paris: Seduced by the Past,” by Liz Alderman, the Paris-based chief European business correspondent for The New York Times. Liz has lived in the Marais for fifteen years, and, as you might expect, her choices are personal, well-informed, and dear to her heart. Read on!
Read MoreI did not want to pass up this opportunity to, once again, wish you good luck and fortune in the new year. But since the Chinese New Year is something my dear friend Diana Paul knows more about than I do, I am forwarding her insights on what we can expect in the Year of the Rooster.
Read MoreWhen art critics released their best exhibitions for 2016, "Valentin de Boulogne: Beyond Caravaggio" rose to the top of the most discerning lists. As the show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art will be closing January 16, time is running short. So, drop everything, run right over. If that's not possible, then read on for a fresh look at an old master. And Valentin de Boulogne is an "old master," if one we may not have heard of until now.
Read MoreIf you’ve been following this newsletter for a while, you may recall some of the marvelous French restaurants that have come our way this year. And it wasn't all that hard to find them, as French cooking is undergoing something of a renaissance in New York. And while the competition was strong, the standout was Le Coucou, where our dining experiences have been memorable in every way.
Read MoreBonjour mes amis!
The current exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, "Max Beckmann in New York," was a breath of fresh air, as well as a chance to revisit an old friend. The focus is on 25 paintings he did between 1920-1948 that would enter New York collections and 14 other paintings done during the sixteen months he and his wife lived in New York (1949-1950).
Read MoreNew York: The fifth annual BEVERLY HILLS INTERNATIONAL 2016 AWARDS® has recognized Veronica’s Grave: A Daughter’s Memoir by Barbara Bracht Donsky as a 2016 FINALIST in the category of memoir.
The competition, with thousands of entries, is judged by experts from all aspects of the book industry, including publishers, writers, editors, book cover designers and professional copywriters. They select the award winners based on overall excellence.
After months in the works, this week finds us doing the final edits of the audio-book of Veronica’s Grave: A Daughter’s Memoir. The Audible version, narrated by Leslie S. Miller, will be released shortly on Amazon, iTunes and through other nationwide outlets.
Listening last week to Leslie’s reading of my memoir was a joy! I became so carried away, that it was as if I was listening to someone else’s story. So, who is this enchantress?
Read MoreAfter dipping a madeleine in a cup of verbena-infused tea, Proust’s boyhood memories played out before his very eyes. After a few more sips and a few more dips, he transformed his entire life — all that he knew about history, cultural mores, social privilege, art, science, and human nature—into what is arguably the greatest novel of the 20th century. If not a memoir, it’s an autobiographical treatise in the guise of a novel. Dipping the madeleine proved an antidote to the much-dreaded writer’s block.
Read MoreHello Guys and Gals!
Francophiles keep popping up in my life, the latest being Roni Beth Tower with a fabulous new memoir out this month. Miracle at Midlife: A Transatlantic Romance chronicles a two year courtship between a divorced American attorney living on a converted barge in Paris and a clinical research psychologist working from her home in Connecticut.
Naturally, when Francophiles get together we love nothing better than to talk about all things French. And although it's true that every country has its own customs and rituals, it seems that the French have a unique way of throwing a bachelor party for a young man about to be married. I hope you will find it as entertaining as I did!
Read MoreCalling all Francophiles! Calling all fashionistas! Calling all bookworms!
The stars fell into alignment over The Museum at FIT this week as several international experts on Proust and the Belle Époque, gathered for a fashion symposium marking the opening of a superb exhibition: Proust’s Muse, The Countess Greffulhe.
Read MoreA toy? Taking in the posh digs, the white napery and a stunning floral arrangement, I’m thinking: This is one expensive toy!
Later I googled bilboquet to learn it’s a small wooden cup on a spiked wooden stick attached to a ball on a string. The idea is to toss the ball into the air and catch it in the cup. Good for eye-hand coordination.
Then I checked Zagat 2016: “One does not go for the food alone to this “see-and-be-seen” UES French bistro that functions as a clubhouse for “power” types like “Euros locals” and “Park Avenue dowagers.” The mix of personalities made it hard to resist; I made a reservation.
From the get-go, with a 7:30pm reservation on a Saturday night, the place was a-buzz, and the staff could not have been more accommodating, the hostess showing us to her favorite table, a lovely corner table for two. Once seated, I could see why it was a favorite as it offered an excellent view of the dining room.
Read MoreIf you like comics and live in New York, you're in luck! The French Comics Framed Festival featuring leading French cartoonists has arrived in town, with nearly all the events open free to the public. The festival runs from September 27 to November 5, 2016 with events scheduled at various venues. ‘Meet the Artists,' for instance, is scheduled for booth #1558 at the Comic Con Convention Oct.6-9, at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. This event, with many attendees wearing the costume of their favorite comic book or video game hero, in not open free to the public. In fact, I've been told it sells out within minutes of the tickets becoming available on-line. Had you wanted to go this week, you would have needed to buy a ticket last April. And thousands did!
Read MoreNever having been a vendor at a book festival, I jumped at the chance to share a booth at the Brooklyn Book Festival with two other She Writes Press authors, Sande Boritz Berger, author of The Sweetness, A Novel and Liz Gelb O’Connor, author of The Angelorum Chronicles and Caught Up in Raine—romantic women’s fiction.
Read More“Jerusalem 1000-1400: Every People Under Heaven,“ opening September 26, 2016 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, does what every monumental exhibit aspires to do: It enlarges the mind and nourishes the spirit. And in this particular case, it brings hope that a luminous city that once brought together people from all over the world, to live and trade in harmony, might become that way again. The exhibition accomplishes this by opening a portal to a poorly understood era in human history; namely, the Medieval epoch in Jerusalem. That was a time when the city was the one place on earth for which all hearts ached and the focus of three major faiths -- Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
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