Paris Nights: My Year at the Moulin Rouge

by Cliff Simon

Paris Nights: My Year at the Moulin Rouge opens with a bored twenty six year old Cliff Simon staring out at the ocean from his beachfront house, wishing he was somewhere else. Gavin Mills telephones him from Paris inviting him to join him at the iconic Moulin Rouge. Cliff sells everything he owns, leaving Johannesburg, South Africa for the City of Lights. He learns that his spot at the Moulin is not guaranteed, and is forced to audition. Making the grade, "he is put into can can" school before he is allowed into the company. His adrenaline is pumping from excitement and fear, both of which he has faced before. Taking a look back we see twelve year old Cliff helming a racing dinghy in the midst of a thunderstorm on the Vaal River. His father yells at him not to be a sissy, and he brings the boat back to shore alone. We then travel to London with his family escaping the tumult of Apartheid. He trains for the Olympics, but drops out, enrolling in the South African military where he subjected to harsh treatment and name calling - Fokken Jood. After a honorable discharge, he works in cabaret at seaside resorts, and is recruited as a gymnast in a cabaret, where he realizes that the stage is his destiny. The memoir fast forwards to Cliff's meteoric rise at the Moulin from swing dancer to principal in "Formidable." Off stage he gets into fights with street thugs, hangs out with diamond smugglers, and has his pick of gorgeous women. With a year at the Moulin to his credit, doors open for him internationally and back in South Africa. He earns a starring role in "Egoli: Place of Gold," and marries his long-time girlfriend, Colette. On their honeymoon to Paris, Cliff says, "Merci Paris for the best year of my life."

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Biography

204 pages, Hardcover

Published July 15, 2016

Reviews

[Andrea Stoeckel · Rating 5 out of 5]

[Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of this book. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”]

"There are three things extremely hard: steel, a diamond, and to know one’s self." Benjamin Franklin, U.S. Ambassador to France (1776-1785)

Cliff left everything as he hitched his wagon to a chance at stardom at Moulin Rouge in Paris. Although his friend acted as if it was a done deal, Cliff had to audition and prove he was worthy, just as he had to as a child. His frustration, and sometimes his anger fueled his determination, and he made it happen.

For one year he got to be in Paris, in an outwardly glamorous job where he worked his keister off and partied hearty. However, the world was changing, and Cliff got more than one wake up call that planning for the future might help living in the present. He hold back very little behind the wonder that is presented onstage, and credits where he is today for ridinf the "red windmill" of his year as a dancer/ principle performer in Paris.

This is the story of Cliff Simon, only son of a Jewish family growing up in South Africa at the time of apartheid. It is a story of white/ black separation. In that regard it is a kind of "teaching moment" seen by someone who has lived it, which is the joy of first person sourcing. And I have to admit although I'd seen him act, I really didn't know who Cliff Simon is. I feel that I have been priviledged to see into his life, and it was brave of him to open that door to his readers.

I received this book through France Book Tours: https://francebooktours.com/2016/08/2...

[Gavin Mills · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book. What can I say. Cliff's my best mate and describes our times together in the Moulin Rouge, Paris. A cool feeling to be a character in a book! Great days with a great friend. Well done Cliff. Excellent read!

[Grass monster · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is not very often that I dont know where to start with a review, and this is one of those times.
I found this Memoir so utterly interesting that I dont know if I can quiet cover everything but I will try. I will admit that I have never heard of Cliff Simon until I decided to read his Memoir, the cover and title first drew me in and as I love all things Paris I thought id give it ago, besides it had an interesting blurb.
Paris Nights, My Year at the Moulin Rouge covers the life and journey of Cliff Simon. Born and bred in Johannesburg, South Africa, Cliff moves to England with his family as to avoid being drafted into the army at a young age. Here Cliff trains for the national swim team hoping to make it to the Olympics. But after dropping out and returning to Johannesburg, Cliff makes a decision to join the army against his parents wishes. Army life is not great, despite being subjected to harsh treatments, mental and physical abuse, aswell as name calling, Cliff see's his time out in the army.
After this, Cliff goes on to do some Cabaret, before realising he wants to be on stage. Cliff gets an offer to try out at the Moulin Rouge in Paris, and with his experiences from the army, it helps get him that place as a swing dancer in the show 'Formidable'. Eventually moving up to principle. Life certainly is one big adventure for Cliff, as we see him dancing the nights away on stage to bedding numerous beautiful woman, to getting into street fights, dealing with gangsters and getting an invitation to be a diamond smuggler. I also loved hearing the tales about him and his friend Gavin. Cliff leads one exciting and adventurous life with many ups and downs. He eventually moves on to bigger and better things stateside aswell as finding love with long term girlfriend Colette, who he went on to marry.
I thoroughly enjoyed this, Cliff seems to have this electric energy that just shines through in every page. He expresses himself with total honesty and allows the reader to go on the journey with him. I enjoyed hearing about his indepth time in the RAF, and how this has made him the strong person he is today. We get to experience the unknown inside life of the Moulin Rouge and I felt I was in the audience captivating every moment. I loved the backstage banter. I am glad he added the bit about the diamonds, as it shows how easy it is to fall into life as a smuggler. There was a quote he included saying 'Old passions sometimes take a long time to die. It usually takes a new love to end an old one'. This struck a cord with me and is exactly what I needed to hear at this particular time in my life, So Thank You Cliff.
I can see that this is going to be one of those Memoirs that will stay with me for a long time and I am left wanting more from Cliff Simon. So, here is hoping he has another book planned as there is so much more to this man and his life that we can learn and appreciate. And besides, he is a bit of a handsome hottie.
https://francebooktours.com/2016/10/3...

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paris Nights: My Year at the Moulin Rouge deals with a year in the life of Cliff Simon. In fact it is his coming of age. When Cliff is almost of the age to be drafted into the South African army, his upper middle class Jewish family decide to take him away from the political turmoil of apartheid in his native country and the dread of army conscription to a safer life in England. There, Cliff trains almost non-stop to make the national swim team. On the brink of burnout, Cliff makes the rash decision to return to his homeland and to join the army, just what his parents did not want for him. Life in the army is not easy. New recruits suffer physical and mental abuse, all in the name of making them tough.
After his army tour, he decides to take his friend up on his offer of a dance spot at the Moulin Rouge in Paris. Unknown to Cliff, he had to try out for a spot first. Thanks to his rigorous army training, as well as his swimming and gymnastic background and his good looks, Cliff is offered a place in the dance company. Now, the fun begins, a rollercoaster life filled with dancing at the most famous Paris night spot, the hard drinking accompanied by fist fights after work and all the woman, who can not turn down a chance to spend the night with this hunk. Throw in the episodes with local gangsters and offers to smuggle diamonds and you have a great story of non-stop action.
When I was offered this book, I did not realize, that Cliff Simon is now an international star appearing in a famous South African soap opera, in numerous modeling assignments, on many magazine covers and as a movie star in Hollywood. If I did, I probably would have passed on this book, since I make it a point not to read biographies, about people currently in the entertainment field. And THAT would have been a terrible mistake, because I would have missed out on a most entertaining autobiography of a man, who has led an extraordinary life.

If you would like to win a copy please see: https://francebooktours.com/2016/08/2...

[Allie · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written story of how he got to where he was.

[Meg - A Bookish Affair · Rating 3 out of 5]

In "Paris Nights," actor and dancer (who knew?) Cliff Simon recounts his year as a dancer at the famed Moulin Rouge in Paris. He also throws in some other stories from his life throughout the book so the book is not all about the Moulin Rouge but more of a memoir of some key events throughout Simon's life. This is a quick read that will give readers a taste of what it is like to perform at the Moulin Rouge, a place which has captured the imagination of so many over the years!

I have never been to Paris but if and when I get a chance to go, I would love to go see the Moulin Rouge. It has such a rich and fascinating history. You get a bit of a taste of the shows that are put on there in this book, which I really liked. The book definitely whet my appetite even more for getting a chance to visit. The book is mostly focused on what it is like to put on a show rather than the history of the theater or anything like that. I loved the detail that the author included about the performances!

The writing of the book is good. The storytelling is a little choppy as the parts of Simon's life that he chooses to focus on don't seem to be in any order. First, he finds out that he has a chance to work at the Moulin Rouge and next, he's talking about his childhood in South Africa. Because the stories were interested, I still enjoyed the book but I don't think that I got as into it as I could have with all the jumping around as that was a little jarring. Overall, this was an interesting read that could have been served by a little more focus.

[Sue Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paris nights by Cliff Simon is a memoir read.
Cliff Simon is a bored 27-year-old. Giving Mills telephones him from Paris inviting him to join him.
Very good read.
I don't normally read this genre but I really enjoyed this book.
I liked the story and the characters.
Cliff and Giving were my favourite characters.
Had me gripped from start to finish.
Lovely to see photos in here.
I liked the ending too.
There was nothing I disliked about this book.
Highly recommended.
5* from me.
Thanks to waldorf publishing for the arc.

[Debbie · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

Not being a television watcher, I was previously unfamiliar with Cliff Simon, a successful actor who is well-known in the UK and to US watchers of Stargate. This was thus my first exposure to him.

The memoir was easy to follow. Once the introductory piece set up his move to Paris, we are taken back to Simon’s childhood, teen years and early adult life. There are no distracting spelling or grammatical errors either.

As one can imagine, Paris nightlife can be “colourful” and Simon’s varied background stood him in good stead dealing with fellow dancers, audience members, and various hangers-on. Although Simon stayed for only a year at the Moulin Rouge, no doubt he could have had a long and illustrious career there.

While his year at the Moulin Rouge was indeed interesting, it was but a small part of his exciting life and career, and thus not as major a part of the book as I expected.

Cliff Simon’s fans will no doubt find this well-written memoir of great interest. But I found Simon to be arrogant, condescending and thoroughly unlikable.

I received this book free of charge from the author/publisher.

[Keep Flying · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book after I listened to Cliff’s interview on Hathor Hosts and was intrigued by the extraordinary life he had.
Audio Book vs Paperback - audio book is narrated by Cliff himself so it really flies by - it’s him, telling you his story, in his own words. Very entertaining and mind blowing at times. Love the honesty, he doesn’t go out of his way to explain or excuse bad behaviour or poor decisions. He just tells it how it was.
The hard copy of the book has a lot of photos from his life too, if that’s what you would prefer.
To summarise my impression of this book - I was saddened to hear about Cliff’s death, but after reading this book.. I’m surprised he lived to 58 with all the stuff he was getting into. RIP Cliff Simon!

[Marlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing story about an amazing life!

[Eileen · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[Marika Charalambous · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paris Nights is the hero’s journey of a rebellious young man, Cliff Simon, who decided to move for a year to Paris and become a dancer at the famous Moulin Rouge cabaret.

Full review for this fun memoir: http://bit.ly/2wywbeI

[Alyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will admit that I knew nothing about Cliff Simon when I picked up this book, but I quite enjoy memoirs, and I'd never read about a dancer from the Moulin Rouge before. I didn't actually look him up until after I'd finished the book, and now I realize I'd seen him in a couple of Stargate eps. Very cool, and I'd had no idea he'd been a dancer.

His time in Paris was somewhat predictable in that he slept and partied his way through his year of dancing, but somehow I would expect no less from someone with such energy and need to be doing things. As for the Moulin Rouge itself, seeing behind the curtain and learning about the organization and backstage secrets was fascinating. I think it'd be very cool to be able to truly go backstage and see how it all works. Mr. Simon's book is a great teaser and taste of what the dance hall must be like. I'd be curious to see how it has changed since the 80s, and how it has stayed the same.

Though I picked up the book because of the Moulin Rouge reference, I was more intrigued by Cliff's tellings of his younger life, in pre-apartheid South Africa. Though he could have blunted or softened his earlier (perhaps more naive) views, he approached the issues with honesty, acknowledging the difference between views then and now. It's refreshing, and shows the depth of his thoughts, and his voice is very specific and unique.

[Sandie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Moulin Rouge. Just the name of this famous Paris nightclub generates excitement and curiosity about what goes on behind the scenes of the exciting stage shows put on there. Over the years, many famous entertainers such as Edith Piaf, Frank Sinatra, Maurine Chevalier and Billie Holliday have headlined there. Now readers can get a first-hand account from a man who spent a year dancing there.

Cliff Simon was born to a wealthy Jewish family in South Africa. His family immigrated to England when he was a teenager due to the social unrest in the country. Cliff was talented physically and was on course to compete for a spot on the British Olympic team but he decided that life was not what he wanted. He returned to South Africa and went through military training and served two years. At loose ends after his military service, he became a dancer. When a friend of his suggested that Cliff join him in Paris and try out for the Moulin Rouge, he was more than ready.

The book is a memoir of Simon's year there. He moved quickly from a part in the male dance team to a named performer. While he was successful on stage, his life offstage was a whirlwind of beautiful women, lots of drinks and many fights. Both he and his friend were hotheaded and thought nothing of starting fights with other men in bars or the police who came to break up the fights. Simon got in trouble with a prostitution gang when they felt one of their women was insulted and he barely escaped entanglement with the local mob. His work permit was for one year and after a year, he decided to move on.

Simon went back to South Africa where he won the first South African male contest. From there he moved into acting and landed a contract on a soap opera where he starred for seven years. He has since been featured on American series such as Stargate, CSI and others. This book is recommended for readers who enjoy memoirs and who are interested in Paris and the nightlife found there.

[Charlie Elliott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't know who Cliff Simon was when I picked up the book--and I was pleasantly surprised. I thought it was going to be about dancing or something, but Simon has lead an interesting life from his days in South Africa to being a TV star today. Great read and story.

[Misa Buckley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I preordered Paris Nights as soon as it was possible to do so, but patience is not a strong suit, so when Cliff announced that the audio was available - and narrated by himself - I went ahead and bought it.

Less than three minutes in, I found myself moved by his prose. Dear heaven but the man can write. He has a rather poetic soul, and it comes out time and again in glorious descriptions. The hardback has photographs. I didn't need them, because he paints such a portrait of Paris and of his hometown Johannesburg. (London doesn't come off so well, but I imagine the cold grey of that city were so completely alien it might as well have been another planet.)

The memoir is told in first person and with almost brutal honesty. Cliff isn't shy of his exploits, nor makes much apology for them, though he's willing to hold his hands up and admit some weren't the best idea ever. Age has certainly mellowed him.

Nothing is left out, from his privileged yet troubled childhood, the move to the UK, his return to SA and the hardships of the military, to the instinctive and rather crazy decision to go to France. Some, especially his fans from Stargate, might be surprised by some of the detail, but having heard one tale before (which is oddly missing) I wasn't that embarrassed by his directness.

Paris Nights is a fascinating insight into the city and into a time that, for South Africa, was extremely troubled. I recommend it to any fans of SG, of travel, and more recent history.

[Deborah Dambra · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first started to read this book, I thought I was reading Mr. Simon's daily diary, but as I continued to read, I realized that he is a very descriptive story teller. His book is a love letter to Paris, as well as, a love letter to the Moulin Rouge and his girlfriend who became his wife. Mr. Simon lives a passionate life, as reflected in this book, full of life and the excitement of performing at the Moulin Rouge. I applaud this book as one man's journey into life in the "city of lights." On a personal note, I believe I witnessed his talents at the Moulin Rouge on one of my trips to Paris. If you can't travel to Paris, please read this book to experience a year in the life of Mr. Simon in Paris. You'll be glad you did.

[Valerie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is written by Cliff Simon who was born in South Africa. More information can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff_S... Not only do we get some insight about Cliff’s early life in South Africa in this book, we also get to hear about his experiences and his love for dancing at the Moulin Rouge in France. While doing so, we hear about his love for the city and love for the work he is doing. Ultimately though it is the love of a woman who settles Cliff down and their story. I enjoyed this book and developed a deeper understanding of the infamous location, what conflicts are in South Africa and Cliff’s life. An interesting read.

[Brittney Carmichael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book

[Kelly Miotti · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining and magically story about a cabaret dancers year at the Moulin Rouge! Recommended summer reading!