American writer in Paris
Four years ago, Gad Elmaleh, France’s biggest comedian, arrived on US shores with the dream of becoming a stand-up comic in English. The funny part? He actually did it. On a dreary October evening in 2015, Gad Elmaleh, France’s biggest comedian and one of its most recognized stars found himself doing stand up in English in a shopping mall outside … Read more
Vanity Fair. Heiress to one of the richest American dynasties, Gloria Vanderbilt has seen it all. Fame, fortune, love, and tragedy. JOHN VON SOTHEN retraces the destiny of the woman who inspired Breakfast at Tiffany’s and designer jeans, while harkening back to a lost age – when America once had royalty. There must have been a moment when the last … Read more
Following Donald Trump’s stunning win, America’s knee jerk reaction has been to “find humour in it all,” which JOHN VON SOTHEN finds downright pathological, especially considering it was partly responsible for Trump’s victory in the first place. On the night of the election, I, like so many other American journalists in Paris, was running around the city, talking on panels, giving radio interviews, … Read more
Since the Trump election, living in Paris as an American is kind of like being a registered sex offender. People in my neighborhood are still polite. They greet me as they’ve always done with a bonjour smile as I walk my kid to school, but I can see on their faces they really don’t trust me anymore. And why should … Read more
With a shocking upset in Michigan, Bernie Sanders is proving he’s not dead yet. The only ones who aren’t surprised are the millions of millennials packing stadiums to see him. JOHN VON SOTHEN travels aboard Air Sanders to meet the improbable icon of the new American left. On March 1 at 6:30 AM on a typically Vermont frigid morning, I … Read more
Before she was the American ambassador to France, Pamela Harriman was either the wife, the mistress, or the political benefactor of some of the world’s most powerful men. JOHN VON SOTHEN retraces the life of a 20th century Leonard Zelig, whose life ended in the vaulted pool of the Hotel Ritz. When the Parisian headlines on Feb 5th, 1997 read that Pamela Harriman, … Read more
Vanity Fair – February 2015 JOHN VON SOTHEN travels to Palm Beach to find out how a depressed heiress and bored housewife without any experience, education, and fashion house backing her, not only built a major brand, but managed to transform the way American elites dress and live. There’s always that moment when you’re in the dentist chair or flying … Read more