“How to Die in Paris” by Naturi Thomas
Delve into the Dark Side of Paris
How to Die in Paris is one young woman’s story of survival,
love, self-discovery, and healing
How to Die in Paris: A Memoir by Naturi Thomas
(Seal Press, 272 pgs, $17.00, Trade Paper
ISBN 13: 978.1.58005.364.8; eBook ISBN: 978-1-58005-429-4)
NEW YORK, NY (January 2012): In 2004, Naturi Thomas traveled to Paris with the intention of committing suicide. Instead, she spent nearly a month living on the streets, during which time she fought off predators and went days without food and sleep. With less than a dollar to her name and no way to contact anyone back home, it was only a series of miracles that saved her from certain death.
How to Die in Paris: A Memoir is a chronicle of Thomas’s experiences. A story of survival, love, self-discovery, and healing, How to Die in Paris is the memoir of a young woman who will do anything to escape her tortured past. Penniless, scared, and hoping for rescue, Thomas turns to a series of unlikely male suitors while on the streets: an impoverished Italian who exposes her to the reality of immigrant struggle, a fast-talking squatter who lures her into Paris’s street youth culture, and a beautiful Tunisian who takes her home . . . only to introduce her to a world of pain. Each encounter awakens in her memories from her childhood–memories of her mother’s internalized racism, her abuse, and the effects they had on her young psyche–and forces her to confront the darkness in her past, even as she struggles survive in the present. Though the trials she faces in Paris are bone-chilling, Thomas finds beauty in the small blessings that come her way: a library that offers warmth, a sandwich abandoned in a phone booth, the generosity of strangers, and especially the wonder of Paris itself. Ultimately, being homeless in the City of Light frees Thomas of the denial and defenses that have been holding her back all her life–revealing a broader world too beautiful to leave.
“An intimate, unsparing travelogue through both the City of Light and the darkness of the mind, as a young woman searches for a way–and a reason–to survive. Vividly rendered and deeply honest. This book is the real deal.”–Janice Erlbaum, author of Girlbomb
| About the Author:
Naturi Thomas grew up in New Jersey and spent her twenties in the wilds of New York. During that time she held a variety of jobs, including TV actress, factory worker, children’s book author, tennis teacher, and that receptionist who kept disconnecting you. Upon returning from a 10-month stint in Europe, she returned to college to study writing at New School University in Manhattan. She currently lives near Notting Hill, and is pursuing a master’s degree at City University, London. |
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About Seal Press:
Seal Press was founded in 1976 to provide a forum for women writers and feminist issues. Since then, Seal has published groundbreaking books that represent the diverse voices and interests of women–their lives, literature, and concerns. Seal’s authors are radical and original thinkers, professionals with a distinct point of view, gutsy explorers, truth-tellers, and writers who engender laughter, tears, and rage. Seal Press publishes books with the goal of informing women’s lives. Based in Berkeley, Calif., Seal is a member of the Perseus Books Group.
Tags: Paris, publicist nyc, publicity nyc, sherri rosen publicity nyc, suicide
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