In the Merde for Love
While I don’t usually read books about romantic relationships, nor do I typically get involved with series, I had to make an exception for this one. I find it difficult to resist purchasing from the travel section of bookstores, and as a former French major who studied abroad, I have a particular weakness for anything dealing with adjusting to life in France.
I read A Year in the Merde a few years ago and found it to be quite memorable. In fact, I have pinned to my cubicle wall a color printout of the cover image (also an anthropomorphized map of France wearing a beret) with the quote: “There are lots of French people who are not at all hypocritical, inefficient, treacherous, intolerant, adulterous or incredibly sexy… They just didn’t make it into my book.”
In the Merde for Love describes English entrepreneur Paul West’s unlucky and hysterically funny adventures while vacationing with his French girlfriend’s family, attempting to open a tea shop in Paris, or chasing desperately after his also-French ex-girlfriend. I’ll warn you that it’s a bit racy at times, but overall I found this one to be highly entertaining. I’ll definitely read just about anything Stephen Clarke writes. Next up: Merde Happens, Dial M for Merde, and Talk to the Snail.
