An original and perceptive reconsideration of literature and art in nineteenth-century Paris, now in paperback

In this lavishly illustrated book, Calasso turns his attention to the poets and writers of Paris in the nineteenth century who created what was later called ‘the Modern’. His protagonist is Charles Baudelaire- poet of nerves, art lover, pioneering critic. With Baudelaire’s critical intelligence as his inspiration, Calasso ranges through his life and work, focusing on two painters - Ingres and Delacroix - about whom Baudelaire wrote acutely, and then turns to Degas and Manet. In a mosaic of stories, insights, dreams, close readings of poems and commentaries on paintings, Paris in Baudelaire’s years comes to life.