A Little Guide to the 15th Arrondissement for the Use of Phantoms

by Roger Caillois, Ryan Ruby (Translator)

As he strolls the streets of Paris's fifteenth arrondissement, Roger Caillois imagines the phantoms that inhabit the modern metropolis, drawing on everything from science fiction and the detective novel to urban mythology.

Genres: Fiction, France

63 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

Reviews

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic little essay in which Caillois' brief link with Surrealism shines through with his evocation of the odd and false spaces in this Paris neighborhood as harboring the phantasmagorical, alien, and unnatural. Be sure to read the afterword, in which Caillois revisits his essay (and its ending) after it has been optioned to be produced as a television show.

[Marian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actually read a new English translation published by Readux Books. A twisty guide through the narrator's memory of and imaginings of the Paris neighborhood where he grew up decades earlier. Many phantoms, one atop the other, like old advertisements painted on the brick walls of the narrator's youth. Pleasantly peculiar on a close read.

[Caitlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good. I expect I will re-read this a lot over the years.

[Will]

This is a curious and against odds engaging bit of literature. Caillois roams around a small slice of his native Paris imagining that the architectural quirks and faded advertisements provide refuge for supernatural beings hiding from humanity. It's a surreal work that is equal parts architectural guidebook and Victorian macabre. It's quite quick and worth a read for anyone with a love of cities and a playful imagination.