While I enjoyed Craig Carlson’s memoir, Pancakes in Paris, I can only agree with his subtitle “Living the American Dream in France” if your idea of a dream is opening diners, dealing with French bureaucrats and laborers, and working yourself until you collapse. In other words, the book is a fine place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live it.

Carlson admits he’s an unlikely candidate to move to Paris and open a successful chain of diners, Breakfast in America, BIA. Originally from upstate Connecticut, he grew up in a poor immigrant family, Polish and Finnish. His parents didn’t get along, and finally divorced. Craig and his three older siblings bounced between grandparents. They were even sent to an orphanage for a year. Carlson’s father drank and gambled. His mother was bi-polar. But, he did develop a strong work ethic in order to survive when he was living with his father, Fast Eddie. And, he took French as his seventh grade language requirement. 

Carlson was fortunate to receive an invitation for his junior year abroad in France when he was in college. He spent five weeks in Paris as part of that year, and loved the city. Paris led him to film as a career. He attended USC’s prestigious film school, and then worked as a screenwriter and short filmmaker. That time at the film school also provided him with contacts who would eventually become his first investors in his Paris dream. He worked on a TV show in Paris, and, when he returned to the U.S., he realized what he missed the most was an American breakfast. That was the start of his idea, to open a diner in Paris, one that features an American breakfast.

Craig Carlson had all kinds of problems, ones that readers can discover in the memoir. He’s an easy writer to read, and readers will root for him in his business and personal life. By the age of forty, he realized he was in the city of love, with no love in his own life. The story of his romance is part of the charm of the book.

But, let’s face it. Paris is the primary charming factor in any book set there. I found the prologue a little sad and nostalgic because the book was published in 2016, before the fire at Notre Dame Cathedral. The book begins and ends with Carlson’s view of Notre Dame, and his comments about the opportunity to view its beauty on a daily basis. 

This past week, I gave away mysteries for those armchair travelers who are missing travel. Pancakes in Paris fills that same yearning. Missing Paris, or you always wanted to go? Craig Carlson’s memoir provides a taste of the city.

Craig Carlson’s website is http://www.craigcarlsonauthor.com/

Pancakes in Paris by Craig Carlson. Sourcebooks, 2016. ISBN 9781492632122 (paperback), 306p.

*****

FTC Full Disclosure – I bought a copy of the book.