I’m Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself: One Woman’s Pursuit of Pleasure in Paris

The jubilant latest from MacNicol (No One Tells You This) details her transformative summer in the City of Light. After spending the height of the Covid-19 pandemic anxious and alone in her New York City apartment, a 47-year-old MacNicol jumped at the opportunity to sublet a friend’s Paris apartment in 2021. She was eager for a change of scenery and an opportunity to live as “a woman who wasn’t required to ask permission. Who could do as she pleased.” In Paris, MacNicol ate indulgently, found lovers via dating apps, made new friends, and eventually came to view the city as “a mirror that has allowed me to see my entire self and... tak[e] enormous pleasure in the wholeness of that person.” By and large, MacNicol’s escapades come across as empowering, though some may wince at her shallow description of the app-facilitated dating world as a “meat market.” She’s especially incisive when comparing dating at midlife to gaslighting—no matter how good one actually feels, she argues, “everyone and everything” insists that getting older means feeling worse. It adds up to an exhilarating account of finding a new lease of life. Agent: Lucy Carson, Friedrich Agency. (June)