Year in the Merde by Clarke Stephen

Year in the Merde by Clarke Stephen

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 almost true account of Paul West's adventures as an expat in Paris.

Brought to Paris by a French company to open a chain of British tea rooms, Paul, a twenty-seven-year-old Brit, soon finds himself managing a group of lazy, grumbling French employees, manoeuvring around a slick, treacherous Parisian boss, and lucking into a succession of lusty girlfriends (one of whom happens to be the boss's morally challenged daughter). Immersed in the contradictions of French culture, he learns 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.

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	9780143051916
ISBN 10	0143051911
Title	Year in the Merde
Author	Stephen Clarke
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Penguin Canada
Year published	2005-01-01
Number of pages	288
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.