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A Year in the Merde
A Year in the Merde | Stephen Clarke
5 posts | 18 read | 1 to read
A Year in the Merde is the almost-true account of the author's adventures as an expat in Paris. Based on his 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", the book is narrated by Paul West, a twenty-seven-year-old Brit who is brought to Paris by a French company to open a chain of British "tea rooms." He must manage of a group of lazy, grumbling French employees, maneuver around a treacherous Parisian boss, while lucking into a succession of lusty girlfriends (one of whom happens to be the boss's morally challenged daughter). He soon becomes immersed in the contradictions of French culture: the French are not all cheese-eating surrender monkeys, though they do eat a lot of smelly cheese, and they are still in shock at being stupid enough to sell Louisiana, thus losing the chance to make French the global language. The book will also tell you how to get the best out of the grumpiest Parisian waiter, how to survive a French business meeting, and how not to buy a house in the French countryside.The author originally wrote A Year in the Merde just for fun and self-published it in France in an English-language edition. Weeks later, it had become a word-of-mouth hit for expats and the French alike. With translation rights now sold in eleven countries and already a bestseller in the UK and France, Stephen Clarke is clearly a Bill Bryson (or a Peter Mayle...) for a whole new generation of readers who can never quite decide whether they love-or love to hate-the French.
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keithmalek
A Year in the Merde | Stephen Clarke
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elliemcc11
A Year in the Merde | Stephen Clarke
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Came across a bookswap in Sarlat (Dordogne region) 👍📚🇫🇷

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Avanders
A Year in the Merde | Stephen Clarke
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Day 20 of #sizzlinsummerbooks! When I think of #travel, I think travelogues, like those written by Bill Bryson... top of this pile, however, is a book that my friend insists I must read.....

elkeOriginal I LOVE Bill!! 7y
Avanders @elkeo my husband does too... despite the fact that I own all these (and 1 not pictured), I have yet to read anything by him. 😳 Must remedy that soon! 👓 7y
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Daphodelia
A Year in the Merde | Stephen Clarke
Mehso-so

Fun light read.

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adverse
A Year in the Merde | Stephen Clarke

I read this book before moving to France for two years. It is very funny and depicts France and French people accurately (though satirically). The sequel Merde Actually wasn't as good, but it was still rather funny!