A charming and insightful memoir about coming of age as a fashion journalist in s Paris by former Vogue and Harperrsquos Bazaar editor Kate Betts the author of Everyday Icon Michelle Obama and the Power of StyleldquoYou can always come backrdquo my mother said ldquoJust gordquo As a young woman Kate Betts nursed a dream of striking out on her own in a faraway place and becoming a glamorous foreign correspondent After collegemdashand not without trepidationmdashshe took off for Paris renting a room in the apartment of a young BCBG bon chic bon genre family and throwing herself into the local culture She was determined to master French slang style and savoir faire and to find a job that would give her a reason to stayAfter a series of dues-paying jobs that seemed only to reinforce her outsider status Katersquos hard work and willingness to take on any assignment paid off Her writing and intrepid forays into la France Profondemdashtrue Francemdashcaught the eye of John Fairchild the mercurial fashion arbiter and publisher of Womenrsquos Wear Daily the industryrsquos bible Katersquos earliest assignmentsmdashinvestigating the mineral water preferred by high society chasing after a costumed band of wild boar hunters through the forests of Brittanymdashwere a rough apprenticeship but she was rewarded for her efforts and was initiated into the elite ranks of Mr Fairchildrsquos trusted few who sat beside him in the front row and at private previews in the ateliers of the gods of French fashion From a woozy yet mesmerizing Yves Saint Laurent and the mischievous and commanding Karl Lagerfeld to the riotous brilliant young guns who were rewriting all the rulesmdashMartin Margiela Helmut Lang John GallianomdashBetts gives us a view of what it was like to be an American girl learning about herself falling in love and finding her tribeKate Bettsrsquos captivating memoir brings to life the enchantment of Francemdashfrom the nightclubs of s Paris where she learned to dance Le Rock to the lavender fields of Provence and the grand spectacle of the Cour Carreacuteemdashand magically re-creates that moment in life when a young woman discovers who shersquos meant to be Praise for My Paris Dream ldquoBetts shares her coming-of-age in a self-assured book that should be given to every college senior with a Doisneau poster or Chanel ad on her wall Those of us whorsquove been there and back will find it entertaining and sneakily poignant reading on the flight to Charles de GaullerdquomdashThe New York Times Book Review ldquoEven if your summer travel plans dont include a stroll on the Champs Eacutelyseacutees yoursquoll always have My Paris Dream As light and refreshing as an ice cream cone from the legendary Berthillon My Paris Dream evokes the sights sounds smells and styles of s ParisrdquomdashUSA TodayldquoAn amazing story of a young woman in Paris trying to break into the fashion business as a journalist My Paris Dream is a fun read Kate Bettsrsquos trajectory of inventing herself is uniquely her own but incredibly universal as wellrdquomdashSophia Amoruso author of GIRLBOSS ldquoKate Bettsrsquos story brought me back to my own young self and the journey I mademdashin my case from a small town in Illinois to New York City Shersquos captured that youthful fearlessness and the romantic impulse we have to strike out and find ourselvesrdquomdashCindy Crawford.
