Parisian Reasons

"There's a new humorist in town and his name is me." That's how author, Jay Snyder, would have you see his new genre blend "Parisian Reasons: An Homage to Hemingway's A Moveable Feast." Part parody and part homage, here's a look at strengths and foibles, directness and self-delusion, love and hate. The stage is Paris in the twenties or is it? We recognize Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, and T.S. Eliot but where did the laptops and the cellphones come from? And why are they making homemade cheese for a Croc-monsieur? This Paris, this world is a madcap mash-up where time collides on itself. It's still a feast that lasts a lifetime and goes anywhere, and Snyder's observations, insights and eccentricities feel very much as if they passed through Hemingway's mind on the way to the page. Funny, delightful, and puzzling when the observer sees in the mirror the person he wishes to see rather than who's really there. But don't we all have a bit of that quality in us? Isn't that how we live? Isn't that what makes living a bearable Gulagian madhouse for some? If you know Hemingway, you'll recognize many of the send-ups. If you've never read a word or seen any of the film adaptations, you'll still find "Parisian Reasons" enjoyable: filled with wit, modesty, and exuberance - not the Hemingway you expected because he isn't. He's Jay Snyder.