The Age of Comfort

When Paris Discovered Casual - and the Modern Home Began

De: Joan DeJean

Narrado por: Teri Wilde

Today, it is difficult to imagine a living room without a sofa. When the first sofas on record were delivered in 17th-century France, the result was a radical reinvention of interior space. Symptomatic of a new age of casualness and comfort, the sofa ushered in an era known as the golden age of conversation; as the first piece of furniture designed for two, it was also considered an invitation to seduction. With the sofa came many other changes in interior space we now take for granted: private bedrooms, bathrooms, and the original living rooms.

None of this could have happened without a colorful cast of visionaries-legendary architects, the first interior designers, and the women who shaped the tastes of two successive kings of France: Louis XIV's mistress Madame de Maintenon and Louis XV's mistress Madame de Pompadour. Their revolutionary ideas would have a direct influence on realms outside the home, from clothing to literature and gender relations, changing the way people lived and related to one another for the foreseeable future.

©2009 Joan DeJean (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Unlistenable narration

This must be read by AI. The tempo and inflection of the narrators voice continually sounds totally misaligned with the content. Sadly it makes this seemingly interesting book almost unlistenable. I couldnt finish more than 2 chapters.

Not really suitable for an audio book

Boring voice of a narrator is not helped by the lack of illustrations frequently referred to in the story. This simply is not a book that lends itself to audio format.