DownloadThe Portobello Bookshop Gift Guide 2024

Paris or Die

A Memoir

Jayne Tuttle author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Hardie Grant Explore

Published:6th Feb '20

Should be back in stock very soon

Paris or Die cover

In Paris Or Die, Jayne Tuttle is a young Australian in Paris. Living in a converted seventeenth-century monastery and studying at a prestigious theatre school, she is trying to escape the pain of a loss back home by immersing herself in the city’s extremes.

The beauty. The grime. The madness and humour, the sights and songs, the streets turning white overnight. A friendship with a flamboyant artist. A relationship with a Frenchman too beautiful to be real.

Nothing in her Paris seems to follow rhyme or reason – not her heart, her thoughts or the course of events. And least of all the bizarre accident that nearly ends it all when she narrowly avoid decapitation in a lift shaft...

Jayne Tuttle’s memoir vibrates with a rawness and immediacy that lifts you off the page and into a Paris beyond the postcards. Warm, funny and uncompromising, Paris or Dierevels in the highs and lows of life in the City of Light.

‘By turns madcap and heart-breaking, Paris or Die is a witty and wise reflection on the power of cities to help us become ourselves. I devoured it and I can’t wait to read more from my new favorite writer.’ – Lauren Elkin, author of Flâneuse: Women Walk the City
'A vivid memoir of damage, grace and healing which manages to be funny, irreverent and moving all at once.' – Luke Davies, author of Candy, Totem, script writer of Lion
‘Jayne Tuttle’s writing is a delicious delight.’ – Christos Tsiolkas, author of Damascus, Merciless Gods, Barracuda, The Slap
‘An electric rollercoaster ride through the streets of Paris, this is also a moving memoir of love, exploration and loss – at times utterly joyful, at times gut-wrenching and always fierce and beautifully written.’ – Jemma Birrell, artistic director of Sydney Writers’ Festival, 2012–2016
‘I was entranced from start to finish. A tantalising tour through the life of a young, spontaneous, in love, in lust, foreigner whose inimitable joie de vivre opens her to a Paris that yields its local charms, its particular customs and its unexpected dangers …’ – Martine Murray, author of The Last Summer of Ada Bloom, How to Make a Bird
‘A riveting, moving, funny and at times shocking memoir about a young Australian woman whose dream journey to the city of light turns into a nightmare. I loved it.’ – Jennifer Higgie, writer and editor Frieze magazine
‘Moving, raw and more than a little bit sexy, I practically inhaled this book about a woman determined to grab on to art, love and life with everything she’s got in the world’s most romantic city.’ – Rachel Power, author of The Divided Heart: Art and Motherhood
‘Joyous, sexy and compelling … a wonderful read.’ – Paddy O’Reilly, author of Peripheral Vision, The Wonders
'
Tuttle, a writer, actor and charismatically charming first-time author, takes us on quite a journey. Her writing is pitch-perfect and pacy – very, very funny at times, and raw and affecting at others.' – Linda Jaivin, The Saturday Paper
‘A latter-day Bonjour Tristesse.’ – Steve Carroll, Sydney Morning Herald / The Age
‘A witty and observant raconteur, and merciless chronicler of her own foibles, she’s like the love child of David Sedaris and Helen Garner.’ – Linda Jaivin, The Saturday Paper
‘A love letter to Paris: not the idealised city Tuttle had imagined it to be, but a real and imperfect place where she feels “alive, more alive than ever before”’ – Gemma Nisbet, The West Australian
‘A rollicking yarn that is humorous, poignant and sexy, and always evocative of Paris.’ – Graham Erbacher, The Australian
‘Tuttle’s honesty and raw self-exposure creeps on you, as does her own near-death experience.’ – Wendy Mason, The Herald Sun 
‘Beautifully written with an unfiltered lens, Paris or Die is gritty, funny and heartbreakingly real.’ – Emily Harms, The Wheeler Centre
 
 
By turns madcap and heart-breaking, Paris or Die is a witty and wise reflection on the power of cities to help us become ourselves. I devoured it and I can’t wait to read more from my new favorite writer. -- Lauren Elkin, author of Flâneuse: Women Walk the City
A vivid memoir of damage, grace and healing which manages to be funny, irreverent and moving all at once. -- Luke Davies, BAFTA winner and Academy Award nominee
Jayne Tuttle’s writing is a delicious delight. -- Christos Tsiolkas, author of Damascus, Merciless Gods, Barracuda, The Slap
An electric rollercoaster ride through the streets of Paris, this is also a moving memoir of love, exploration and loss – at times utterly joyful, at times gut-wrenching and always fierce and beautifully written. -- Jemma Birrell, artistic director of Sydney Writers’ Festival, 2012–2016
I was entranced from start to finish. A tantalising tour through the life of a young, spontaneous, in love, in lust, foreigner whose inimitable joie de vivre opens her to a Paris that yields its local charms, its particular customs and its unexpected dangers … -- Martine Murray, author of The Last Summer of Ada Bloom, How to Make a Bird
A riveting, moving, funny and at times shocking memoir about a young Australian woman whose dream journey to the city of light turns into a nightmare. I loved it. -- Jennifer Higgie, writer and editor Frieze magazine
Moving, raw and more than a little bit sexy, I practically inhaled this book about a woman determined to grab on to art, love and life with everything she’s got in the world’s most romantic city. -- Rachel Power, author of The Divided Heart: Art and Motherhood
Joyous, sexy and compelling … a wonderful read. -- Paddy O’Reilly, author of Peripheral Vision, The Wonders
Tuttle, a writer, actor and charismatically charming first-time author, takes us on quite a journey. Her writing is pitch-perfect and pacy – very, very funny at times, and raw and affecting at others.  -- Linda Jaivin, The Saturday Paper
A latter-day Bonjour Tristesse.  -- Steve Carroll, Sydney Morning Herald / The Age
A witty and observant raconteur, and merciless chronicler of her own foibles, she’s like the love child of David Sedaris and Helen Garner. -- Linda Jaivin, The Saturday Paper
A love letter to Paris: not the idealised city Tuttle had imagined it to be, but a real and imperfect place where she feels “alive, more alive than ever before” -- Gemma Nisbet, The West Australian
A rollicking yarn that is humorous, poignant and sexy, and always evocative of Paris. -- Graham Erbacher, The Australian
Tuttle’s honesty and raw self-exposure creeps on you, as does her own near-death experience. -- Wendy Mason, The Herald Sun
Beautifully written with an unfiltered lens, Paris or Die is gritty, funny and heartbreakingly real. -- Emily Harms, The Wheeler Centre

ISBN: 9781741176742

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 350g

256 pages

Paperback