A Year in the Merde

by Stephen Clarke

Overview

Based on Stephen Clarke's own experiences and with names changed to "avoid embarrassment, possible legal action, and to prevent the author's legs being broken by someone in a Yves Saint Laurent suit," A Year in the Merde provides perfect entertainment for Francophiles and Francophobes alike.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781582346175
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	05/01/2006
Edition description:	REPRINT
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.86(d)

About the Author

Stephen Clarke is a British journalist and the internationally bestselling author of A Year in the Merde and In the Merde for Love, which describe the misadventures of Paul West in France, and Talk to the Snail, a hysterical look at understanding the French. He himself has lived in France for twelve years.

Editorial Reviews

Highly entertaining…Clarke renders the flavor of life in Paris impeccably.” —Washington Post

“Call him the anti-Mayle. Stephen Clarke is acerbic, insulting, un-PC and mostly hilarious.” —San Francisco Chronicle.

“The antidote to Peter Mayle, this ‘almost-true memoir' will appeal equally to Francophobes and Francophiles.” —New York Post (4 stars)

“The book is laugh-out-loud hilarious. Like the best of British comedy, Merde is a comedy of errors…[with] great interlingual puns, a vivacious spirit and a playful attitude about the absurdities of a foreign culture.” —Rocky Mountain News

“Combines the gaffes of Bridget Jones with the boldness of James Bond… Clarke's sharp eye for detail and relentless wit make even the most quotidian task seem surreal.” —Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

This book carries a cautionary cover note: "There are lots of French people who are not at all hypocritical, inefficient, treacherous, intolerant, adulterous or incredibly sexy.... They just didn't make it into my book." That tongue-in-cheek warning sets the tone of this lighthearted, "almost true" expat confession. The narrator captures the contradictions of French culture and the strong French aversion to the American work ethic. A delight for Francophiles and Francophobes alike.

The caustic tale of getting a French education the hard way. British journalist Clarke has camouflaged the particulars, but the gist of this work (originally self-published in France) is apparently drawn directly from his own experience. Here, "Paul West," his 27-year-old narrator, is hired by a French firm to open British tearooms in Paris, improbable as that sounds. And doomed, too, as Paul goes merrily about poking fun at France's farcically inefficient businesses, home to the most coddled workers in the universe and plagued by strikes seemingly every day. Paul is the object of some impressive snootery for his woeful French, though he soon learns that living in Paris requires much more than the right accent. The ville lumiere is for sharks; you mustn't worry about people liking you, "you've got to show them that you don't give a shit what they think." This isn't difficult when it comes to his co-workers, who "don't give a shit" either. Paul does, however, feel some loyalty to his boss, until he discovers that Jean-Marie is a marauding opportunist with a soupcon of his venality aimed at the new guy. (He tries to sell Paul a bijou cottage in Normandy, undeterred by the fact that a nuclear power station will be built next door.) With much time on his hands, thanks to the French lack of work ethic, Paul spends much of it in the comical pursuit of women. They bring some fresh air into the narrative, allowing Paul to laugh at himself for a change. Despite the country's economic and political self-absorption, he does fall for France, its style and especially its food. His affection radiates here, a comforting balance to the wicked mordancy. The publisher promises a second volume of PaulWest's adventures, which is good news. For Clarke's sake, let's hope he doesn't have to live it to write it. Author tour

Kirkus Reviews