I like people—more or less—depending on whether they furnish me with raw material. One of the most celebrated authors of Belle ?poque Paris, Jules Renard (1864-1910) was a skilled novelist but remains best known for his voluminous diaries. Filled with wit and wisdom, these selections from the diary—assembled by Julian Barnes—provide entertaining glimpses of a bygone world, and it is easy to see why Renard's aphorisms earned the admiration of Somerset Maugham, Samuel Beckett, and Susan Sontag.