Stop running long enough and the demons will catch up. When I moved to Paris I thought I was chasing a dream: the infamously people-centered French lifestyle filled with good food, better wine, and long chats on open terraces. What I didn’t realize was that while I was doing the chasing, I was also being chased.

The last time I wrote a memoir, I hadn’t even started therapy. It’s amazing how much can change and just how quickly. This book starts in the eye of the storm that was my early life in Paris. The brief calm in launching a book and pausing my vlog only gave space for things to get much, much worse.

Whether you’re interested in what it’s like to be an influencer in a city like Paris, France, to build a business from the ground up, or to simply try and find your place in the insanity of this era, there’s something for you here. But this book is really for the lonely ones who fear their dreams will never come true, that the solitude will overwhelm them, and they’ll waste their days doomscrolling in the dark. You are not alone, and I shared this story to help you know it in your bones.

I hope it finds you exactly at the right time.
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This is Jay Swanson's second memoir. Where the first focused on how he got to Paris and made it stick, this entry is how making it stick turned out to be the hardest part. Whether building a business as a content creator, battling French bureaucracy in the pursuit of French citizenship, or trying to find love in the most romantic city on earth - nothing came easy.
But at the root of it all, the true destabilizing force, was Swanson himself. Or perhaps, rather, the demons he had yet to face. Through growing friendships, sheer determination, and an undying love for the City of Light, his story is one of raw honesty and vulnerability in a time where most men are told they're better off just sucking it up and staying quiet. This is a book not just for those who dream of making a living as creators, or who are destined for life in a distant land, but for those who need the reminder that the hardest work of all, that which is done upon and for themselves, is that which is most worth it.
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Praise for Desert of the New:

“Can a city be a lifeline? In Swanson’s follow-up memoir, Paris plays such a role— and an always compelling backdrop—as he peels back the layers of his personal and creative journey. An honest and heartfelt look at healing and rebuilding.”

Lindsey Tramuta - Journalist, bestselling author and host of The New Paris Podcast

“At first glance, this book may seem like a love letter to Paris, but it unfolds into a heartfelt tribute to ‘Home,’ wherever that may be. It inspired me to reflect on my own notions of self, relationships, and life. We often hear that the unexamined life is not worth living; this book feels like a mirror of that sentiment. The examined life is worth celebrating—a journey worth embarking on towards a deeper understanding of ourselves and the world around us.”

Tamer Kattan - Award winning comedian, writer, & actor

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