A Year in the Merde — Stephen Clarke

A Year in the M***e 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 M***e 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.