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A Year in the Merde by Stephen Clarke
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A Year in the Merde

by Stephen Clarke

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914213,901 (3.3)13
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English (20)  French (1)  All languages (21)
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Like Bridget Jones for men, only not as well-written. Interesting insights into Paris and Parisians, but that's about it. ( )
aviva4 | Jun 24, 2009 |  
This is a fictional story about an Englishman brought to Paris by the VD company to open up some English tea rooms. This is pretty much a typical fish out of water story, with the English guy, Paul, trying to figure out how to get along with Parisians and learn the language and get laid. The latter being his main goal.

There were some laugh out loud moments and this was a pretty quick read. The plot was okay, somewhat disappearing with Paul's quest for French woman. ( )
manadabomb | Feb 17, 2009 | 1 vote
The Hundred Years War is in full force in this pseudo docu-comedy of an Englishman working in a postmodern French office. The Office meets the Baguette.
cmeatto | Jan 1, 2009 | 1 vote
This is a story about a British guy, Paul West, who goes to work in France for a year. He describes his time in France, from the perspective not of a short-term visitor but as someone who works and lives there.
This was a really fun read for me, a bilingual French-Canadian who works in a place where Canadian descendants of both the British and the French converge and must work together. Canada may not exactly replicate either British or French culture, but there are similarities.
For much of this novel, though, I kept forgetting it was a novel and kept reading it as though it were a memoir. I don't think it made much of a difference in level of enjoyment. But it does perhaps speak to a moderate lack of plot, especially for the first half or more of the book. It was amusing nonetheless. ( )
Deesirings | Sep 10, 2008 | 1 vote
I read this while I was tooling around Ireland. I found it on a give-away bookshelf at Murphy's B&B in Dingle. It was very engaging. ( )
Wattsian | Sep 9, 2008 |  
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Not to be confused with the Paul West book with the same name.
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Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 972233428X, Paperback)

Sinopse: A Year in the Merde relata a hilariante desmistificação dos lugares-comuns com que nos iludimos ao idealizar Paris e a França em geral. Os leitores que têm lido este livro não resistem ao humor que ele irradia. Nem os próprios franceses resistem às «farpas» que o autor lhes lança ironicamente. A história que Stephen Clarke nos conta começa com um jovem britânico, Paul West, que aceita uma proposta de trabalho de um empresário francês, para lançar uma cadeia de salões de chá ingleses. Fascinado pelo lado romântico de trabalhar no país do «charme», apercebe-se rapidamente de como lhe é difícil sobreviver emocionalmente às idiossincrasias dos franceses. Mesmo assim, o nosso herói sucumbe ao pitoresco daqueles tiques tão irritantes! A favor disso jogam a maneira fácil como se pode manobrar por entre a falta de espaço habitacional parisiense, quando a filha do patrão é estudante universitária e sexualmente liberalíssima! Sem esquecer a suavidade da lingerie francesa e o gosto do amour francês que ele irá provando junto das sucessivas namoradas. E já que falamos de gosto, como não se deliciar com a cuisine francesa e outras artes sofisticadas? Quando Paul, literalmente, consegue assentar os pés na terra sem escorregar, descobre o que afinal se esconde por detrás da fachada que o emérito empresário montou, fachada essa da qual Paul acaba por fazer parte... Este é sobretudo um magnífico livro para os que descobrem nele uma outra maneira de olhar o mundo. Nº de Páginas: 256

(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:10 -0400)

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