Flaneuse : Women Walk the City in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Venice and London - Lauren Elkin

If the word fl�neur conjures up visions of Baudelaire, boulevards and bohemia - then what exactly is a fl�neuse?In this gloriously provocative and celebratory book, Lauren Elkin defines her as `a determined resourceful woman keenly attuned to the creative potential of the city, and the liberating possibilities of a good walk'. Part cultural meander, part memoir, Fl�neuse traces the relationship between the city and creativity through a journey that begins in New York and moves us to Paris, via Venice, Tokyo and London, exploring along the way the paths taken by the fl�neuses who have lived and walked in those cities. From nineteenth-century novelist George Sand to artist Sophie Calle, from war correspondent Martha Gellhorn to film-maker Agnes Varda, Fl�neuse considers what is at stake when a certain kind of light-footed woman encounters the city and changes her life, one step at a time.