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  What's a flâneur? Webster defines it simply as "an idle man-about-town," one of those fin-de-siècle dandies who ambled through the crowds of European cities in search of bustle, gossip, and beauty. And what is Flâneur? It's a webzine dedicated to the celebration of urban life, the sanctification of the stroll.  In the tradition of literary flâneurs—Walt Whitman, Fran Lebowitz, Alfred Kazin, Joseph Mitchell, the Beastie Boys—Flâneur seeks to scrutinize the city, to evoke the essence of the street. And to encourage flaneurial behavior, whether detached observation or decadent gadding about. Of course, there's more to flanerie than loafing. As evidence, and as exhortation, I offer a passage from the first (and possibly sole) issue of Le Flâneur, a newspaper published in Paris on May 3, 1848: To go out strolling, these days, while puffing one's tobacco, while dreaming of evening pleasures, seems a century behind the times. We are not the sort to refuse all knowledge of the customs of another age; but, in our strolling, let us not forget our rights and our obligations as citizens. The times are necessitous; they demand all our attention, all day long. Flâneurs, unite. Lawrence Levi Editor Brooklyn, New York |
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