Summary

Pages 20 - 21—“The Eiffel Tower” is the first chapter in the memoir to open with a multi-paragraph essay before continuing in the small bites format. In this opening essay, James recounts the time she and her husband took Anna and a schoolmate to the Eiffel Tower. She compared the girls to “drunk fighter pilots” (20) and wondered why the French once considered tearing the tower down after its World’s Fair debut. They opted for the less expensive, skip-the-line tickets, “the kind that come without crepes and champagne,“ and wandered over to an “ancient carousel” so the girls could amuse themselves during the wait (20-21). Anna and her friend were the only two riders, and as James watched them circle on “garish horses” which looked “battle scarred and mournful,” James states that watching them circle and hearing...