The United States of Paris

David McCullough's next book, annunced this week by Simon & Schuster, will be a history of Americans in Paris. Untitled as yet, the book is tentatively scheduled for 2010. The Martha's Vineyard resident told the admirable Hillel Italie, the Associated Press's human vacuum cleaner for publishing news, that the book will begin with Franklin and Jefferson in the 18th Century, and continue into the 20th.

Everything McCullough has written in recent years has turned to gold. His last book, "1776," was a million-plus seller, and the two previous -- "Truman" and "John Adams" -- both won the Pulitzer Prize.

Still, one wonders if Americans are as interested in reading about Paris as they are about going there. It's not Provence, after all.