ATLP takes a bite out of the Big Apple

I went, I saw, and I did my level best to conquer.

The thing that always strikes me about New York City is the overwhelming size of the place. It's noisy, it's vast and it seems to move in a state of perpetual fast-forward.

For a humble lad from Sydney-via-Paris, it's all slightly overwhelming. So it was that I fronted up to Idlewild bookstore in Manhattan last Thursday night for the US launch of A Town Like Paris with a hulking great knot in my stomach.
A few glasses of Thompson Estate Chardonnay (note gratuitous plug for friend's delicious Western Australian white wine) managed to take the edge off sufficiently that I was finally able to stand up before the 100-strong crowd, make a short speech and read from the book.

Thank you to everyone who waded through the New York humidity to join the festivities - and thank you, especially, for the lively Q&A session that followed the book reading. Some of you had really done your homework, quoting back at me entire passages from the book. If I looked momentarily taken aback, it was simply because some of you appeared to know my book better than me. Impressive work people.

A Town Like Paris gets the Page Six treatment

Question: What do Anne Hathaway, Jimmy Page and myself have in common?

Answer: We all shared coveted Page Six column space in the same day's edition of the New York Post.


It's not every day a fella warrants a mention in Gotham City's most hotly contested celebrity register, so permit me an indulgence if I draw it to your attention.

Published on the morning of the US launch event for 'A Town Like Paris', the article featured a winning photograph of the Showgirl (which, it's fair to say, probably helped sway the editor's decision to include the article in the column ...) and a brief description of the book.

All in all, a cracking good start to the New York adventure.

The article in full:

"Heartbreak Fix"

"June 19, 2008 - GOING to Paris with a broken heart worked out splendidly for Australian journo Bryce Corbett. After breaking up with a longtime girlfriend, he fled London for the City of Light to meet French women and fell for a hot Lido showgirl, Shay Stafford , a fellow Aussie who ended up marrying him. Corbett writes about his exploits in the well-received tome "A Town Like Paris," which will be feted tonight at 7 at Idlewild Books at 12 W. 19th St."

To see the article online, click here

Start spreading the news .... New York here I come

Mark your diaries people! It's time for the US launch of A Town Like Paris. I am Big Apple-bound.

We're talking an all-singing, all-dancing, full-frontal Aussie assault on Manhattan. There will be Aussie wine, Aussie revellers, a slightly delirious Aussie author (something about that trans-Atlantic flight just knocks me out every time) and - with a bit of luck - a band of indulgent (if bemused) locals.

The recently-opened Idlewild Books on West 19th St has kindly donated its event space for the night. My ever faithful friends at the West Australian winery, Thompson Estate are helping to provide liquid refreshment and the good folk at Random House/Broadway Books (my US publishers) will be ensuring there are plenty of copies of A Town Like Paris on hand for anyone who wants an autographed copy.

In all, it should be quite the fun evening. A taste of Paris in the heart of Manhattan served up by an Aussie. Talk about globalisation.

All of which is to say, if you happen to be in New York on the evening of June 19, you are hereby cordially invited to attend.

To those of you in the States who have been buying and reading my book, and sending through such nice emails, I say a heartfelt thank you. It's always gratifying to receive reader feedback. Especially when it's of the positive variety.

Details for the US launch event:

Thursday 19 June
7pm
Idlewild Books
12 West 19th St (near 5th Ave)
New York, NY

RSVP: events@idlewildbooks.com

I look forward to seeing you there.

A Town Like Paris reviewed in the New York Times

What better start to a Sunday morning could a fella possibly hope for?

Over juice and cereal this morning, as I stared out across the Paris rooftops, an email arrived from a colleague informing me he had just read a review of A Town Like Paris in today's edition of the New York Times.


And it's not half-bad.

In a cover story highlighting this year's batch of summer reading, journalist Josh Hammer calls A Town Like Paris "a refreshing variation on a shopworn theme: the Anglophone at large in the French capital".

While noting the literary effort is "not quite A Moveable Feast", Hammer nonetheless notes: "Corbett’s sharp observations lend the tale a dash of élan".

I'll wear that.

To read the review in full, click here