I received this soft-covered picture book in the mail a few weeks ago thanks to the authors finding a photo of mine on Flickr which they wanted to use in the book. I agreed and they were kind enough to send me the book. The 200-page book with many photos (and captions) of the Austrian city of Linz was produced to celebrate the city's nomination as European Capital of Culture for 2009.
Linz tells its story by comparing itself in various aspects to a wide range of other cities around the world including Hyderabad, Davos and Seattle. In reading the book, not only was I intrigued to visit Linz (so the promotion exercise works) but also I noted a number of other places to put on my "To Visit" list including Manchester and Port Camargue.
The inspiration for the book's title comes presumably from Wim Wenders' 1984 film Paris, Texas which drew the world's attention to the fact that there was a city called Paris in Texas. (In fact, if I remember correctly there are about 20 Paris's in the USA). Even though Wenders' movie neither featured the real city of Paris, Texas nor was filmed there, the movie put the city on the map. That's presumably the hope of the folks in Linz, a major industrial center which most tourists wouldn't think of visiting.
