RaveSF Gate...[a] swift, dense and generous novel ... I enjoyed, admired and am moved by this first...novel. It helps that Alexander Maksik loves Paris without gooeyness; he brings a fresh perspective to a familiar passion ... Maksik, in his account of adolescent yearning and grown-up fallibility, does something like what Hemingway did in his non-debut memoir, A Moveable Feast - he vividly evokes a destination for generations of foreign seekers. He tells a rapid story about avid schoolkids and a predatory teacher, but respects both the kids\' ebullience and charm and the older man\'s troubled soul ... Out of a familiar dilemma, Maksik has made something fresh, bracing and full of feeling.
