The Paris Review…Early Chapters

Remembering a post-WWII Paris ("with its stockings down around its ankles") far from the Gay Paree of popular imagination, George Plimpton, former participatory sports journalist (Paper Lion) and current longtime editor of The Paris Review, re-visits key buildings and cafes from the avant-garde international literary quarterly magazine's early days here. Founded in Paris in 1953 by Peter Matthiessen, Plimpton and Harold "Doc" Humes, the nearly half-century old PR would publish an eclectic range (and several major writers' initial works) of pieces from the likes of William Styron, Donald Hall, Mary Lee Settle, and James Salter (all of whom are interviewed here), as well as Italo Calvino, T.C. Boyle, and Jay McInerney, among countless others. Shot by the legendary Albert Maysles (Salesman, Gimme Shelter) and directed by Paula Heredia, The Paris Review…Early Chapters offers up a delightful literary smorgasbord of archival footage and stills, contemporary interviews, and Paris walkabout (including a stop at the world-renowned bookstore Shakespeare & Co.). Of the many priceless anecdotes served up here, my favorite is Plimpton's recollection of a problem with a Terry Southern story, in which the dialogue "don't get your shit hot" was changed because of 4th class mailing regulations, initially to "don't get your crap hot," and in final editing to the relatively fangless "don't get hot" (which is exactly what Southern did get when he saw the printed piece). Sure to be very much appreciated by literature buffs, this engaging cinematic valentine is warmly recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (R. Pitman)