Talk to the Snail by Stephen Clarke

Talk to the Snail by Stephen Clarke

Have you ever walked into a half-empty Parisian restaurant, only to be told that it's complet? Attempted to say merci beaucoup and accidentally complimented someone's physique? Been overlooked at the boulangerie due to your adherence to the bizarre foreign custom of waiting in line? Well, you're not alone. The internationally bestselling author of A Year in the Merde and In the Merde for Love has been there too, and he is here to help. In Talk to the Snail, Stephen Clarke distills the fruits of years spent in the French trenches into a truly handy (and hilarious) book of advice. Read this book, and find out how to get good service from the grumpiest waiter; be exquisitely polite and brutally rude at the same time; and employ the language of l'amour and le sexe. Everything you need is here in this funny, informative, and seriously useful guide to getting what you really want from the French.
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. He himself has lived in France for twelve years.
Praise for A Year on the Merde: Clarke renders the flavor of life in Paris impeccably: the endless strikes, the sadistic receptionists, the crooked schemes by which the wealthy and well-connected land low-rent apartments.Clarke's eye for detail is terrific.-Washington Post Call him the anti-Mayle. Stephen Clarke is acerbic, insulting, un-PC and mostly hilarious.-San Francisco Chronicle 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

His first novel, A Year in the Merde, originally became a word-of-mouth hit in Paris in 2004. Since then it has been published all over the world, and earned Stephen a nomination for the British Book Award for Best Newcomer. The follow-up, Merde Actually, went to number one in the Bookseller chart. In 2006, he published his guide to understanding the French, Talk to the Snail, which he divided into ten 'commandments' or chapters that include Thou Shalt Not Work, Thou Shalt Not Love Thy Neighbour and Thou Shalt Not Be Served.

During his research for Merde Happens, Stephen was interviewed by the American police twice, found one real pistol, was told to have a good one 127 times, and became allergic to cranberries.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781596913097
ISBN 10	1596913096
Title	Talk to the Snail
Author	Stephen Clarke
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Year published	2007-01-02
Number of pages	272
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.