Book Review: Why LA? Pourquoi Paris? An Artistic Pairing of Two Iconic Cities

A Tale of Two Well-Loved Cities

Why LA? Pourquoi Paris? An Artistic Pairing of Two Iconic Cities melds Diane Ratican's love of her two favorite spots in the world in this light-hearted, well-illustrated book. The author tries her best to convey her love of Los Angeles and Paris by comparing the two sweethearts- Los Angeles is her husband, familiar and content and Paris, her French lover filled with excitement and whimsy.  I loved her comparison and dove right into reading it. 

Even if you only have a moment to glance through the book, the illustrations are vibrant and no description is necessary as the art by Eric Giriat and Nick Lu really need no words. A picture should paint a thousand words, after all, and these ones are well-painted. A cool tip: If you take the book to either city or even if you like to browse Google Earth and are thinking, "Where exactly is this painted landmark?", latitude and longitude directional coordinates are located on each page to plug into your GPS. Smart, Diane. Smart. 

The book is broken into seven sections, and each of those are broken into two. Los Angeles is always written about first, and I can only guess it's because Diane fell in love with the City of Angels first. Each chapter weighs the similarities and differences for both cities and the author paints a picture in the reader's mind by using perfect descriptive sentences and lovely phrases. Quotes from famous folks regarding each city are dispersed throughout the book's chapters and images and tie-in the author and illustrators' thoughts beautifully.

Final Thoughts

Would I consider this book a heavy read? Nope. But, would I consider it a fun, light-hearted and poignant read? You betcha. Reviewing this book was a pleasure and I feel compelled to keep it on my coffee table just so I can flip through the illustrations. My 13 year-old gave me her thoughts on the art as well. She loved the art and told me it looked like a scrapbook in a way. I have to agree. If this book is a scrapbook of Diane Ratican's two beloved cities, then it only makes sense for the art to look homemade and beloved.