In the Merde for Love - Hardcover

Clarke, Stephen

3.56

4,838 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1596911905 ISBN 13: 9781596911901

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA, 2006

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The sequel to the international bestseller A Year in the Merde continues the hilarious saga of Paul West's misadventures in l'amour (this title was originally published as Merde, Actually in the UK).

The latest episode in Stephen Clarke's almost-true account of his adventures as an expat in France is just as delightful as the original―and already a #1 bestseller in the UK. A year after arriving in France, Englishman Paul West is still struggling with some questions. What is the best way to scare a gendarme? Why are there no health warnings on French nudist beaches? Is it really polite to sleep with your boss's mistress? And how do you cope with a plague of ripe garden vegetables? Paul discovers how to judge a French vacationer by the rustiness of his bicycle; opens his English tea room and finally understands why Parisian waiters are so cranky; and, on a return visit to the UK, sees the full horror of a British office party through Parisian eyes. Meanwhile, he continues his search for the perfect French mademoiselle. Will Paul find l'amour �ternel, or will it all end in merde?

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About the Author:

Stephen Clarke is a British journalist, currently working for a French press group in Paris. He has previously written comedy sketches for BBC Radio 4. He is the author of the international bestseller A Year in the Merde.

From Publishers Weekly:

Clarke, a British journalist working in Paris, offers fans of his international roman � clef bestseller A Year in the Merde a novel-sequel that mixes adolescent humor with occasionally astute observations about an expatriate's life in France-with happy results. Clarke's alter-ego Paul West, a 27-year-old Englishman and culinary school graduate turned entrepreneur, opens a tearoom in Paris. After "accidentally screwing someone else," Paul must prove himself to Alexa, the woman he loves, and many shenanigans ensue. A chef with the Breton name of Yann Kerbolloc'h and the French seaside resort town of Ars are sources of great mirth, as are bum jokes, see-through nighties, the many names for male genitalia (dongler, todger, zizi, pair of walnuts and a chipolata, and "what I hoped was an adequate bump in my surfer shorts," to name a few). Clarke doesn't gloss over the racial tensions in Paris, and an occasional editorial voice can be heard, as when the protagonist laments "the dire state" of Britain's railways. On Nutella, he says, "Teenagers and jobless graduates turn to it with a spoon in times of stress." This quick summer read is a rollicking, self-mocking, and brazenly uncouth meal of bonbons coton.
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