In This Issue Literary Paris Essay: "A Book Lover's Dream"> A look at literary Paris throughout the ages, from the Middle Ages to Modern Times. Book Review: Loathing, Loving The Hunchback of Notre Dame> A French classic and social commentary on our need to value inner beauty and human dignity. Book Review: The Phantom of the Opera: The Music and Madness Behind the Mask> “If I am the phantom, it is because man's hatred has made me so. If I am to be saved it is because your lov

Book Review by William Weger Thomas Schlesser’s Mona’s Eyes has captured significant attention. It was named Barnes & Noble’s Book of the Year in 2025. Its enticing cover, featuring Johannes Vermeer’s famous painting Girl with a Pearl Earring, also cleverly evokes the Mona Lisa, which is housed at the Louvre Museum—though the connection is somewhat misleading. 52 Masterworks of Art Fresh from a trip to Paris and the Louvre, I was eager to give the book a try. This ambitious n

Literary Essay by William Weger French literature over the centuries has profoundly shaped our love of the classics and contemporary fiction alike. With Paris at the center of this romantic literary movement, many of the world’s greatest writers have explored love, war, politics, history, poverty, redemption and other human conditions and culture. Among the towering figures in French literature is Victor Hugo, whose epic works, Les Misérables and Notre-Dame de Paris, are set