Nobody would spend so much time studying the french if he wasn’t loving them. Stephen Clark is not complaining about the french, he just makes the most out of our little tendencies but at the end of the day, you only do that with things you love. He is the best example of french bashing (with Paul Taylor) because yes he criticizes and makes fun of the french but you can feel that behind that there is a deep love for the french culture and people and that makes it awesome. This is funny, accurate and so well written! Back then I didn’t speak english and only had my very little knowledge of english from school and I thought it would be good as it would be something I could relate to and indeed what a good book! I’m french but love knowing what other nationalities think of my country and culture and Stephen Clark is able to describe and highlight things in the best way. With translation rights now sold in eleven countries, 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.Stephen Clark is such a great author! His book A year in the merde was the first book I read in english. Weeks later, it had become a word-of-mouth hit for expats and the French alike, even outselling Bill Clinton's memoir at Paris's fabled American bookstore Brentano's. Stephen Clarke lives in Paris, where he divides his time between writing and not writing.His Merde novels. The author originally wrote A YEAR IN THE MERDE just for fun and self-published it in France in an English language edition. He also illuminates 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. Based loosely 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 (or quite possibly, a Christian Dior skirt), " A YEAR IN THE MERDE is the story of a Paul West, a 27-year-old Brit who is brought to Paris by a French company to open a chain of British "tea rooms." 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 they are still in shock at being stupid enough to sell Louisiana, thus losing the chance to make French the global language, while going on strike is the second national participation sport after pétanque. An urban antidote to A Year in Provence, Stephen Clarke's book is a laugh-out-loud account of a year in the life of an expat in Paris- for Francophiles and Francophobes alikeĪ YEAR IN THE MERDE is the almost-true account of the author's adventures as an expat in Paris.
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