One of the best things about being in a book group is that it forces you to read books you might otherwise miss.  Paris in the Present Tense is just such a book.  I adored it.  Not everyone in my book group did, which led to a terrific discussion.

There is music.  There is love – and loss.  There is the horror of the Holocaust.  There is violence and family angst and corporate malfeasance.  There is a police investigation that is, frankly, a hoot.  Through it all, there is one man whose life has been shaped by sorrow and the eternal quest to survive it.  And there is Paris.

As I have for so many of my recent books, I listened to this one.  Just loved the accents, loved the flavor the narrator added.  I’ve never read anything by Mark Helprin before, and I regret that.  His prose is exquisite.  As a writer, I learned much reading this book.