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 the expat in Paris- for Francophiles and Francophobes as well

A Yr IN THE MERDE may be the almost-true account of the author’s travels as an expat in Paris. Based loosely on his own experiences and with names changed to ‘prevent embarrassment, feasible legal action and to avoid the author’s legs being damaged by someone within a Yves Saint Laurent fit (or quite possibly, a Christian about A 12 months in the Merde Dior skirt), ‘ A Yr IN THE MERDE is the story of the Paul Western world, a 27-year-old Brit who is taken to Paris by a French firm to open a string of United kingdom ‘tea areas.’ He soon becomes immersed in the contradictions of French culture: the French aren’t all cheese-eating surrender monkeys, though they do eat a whole lot of smelly parmesan cheese; they remain in surprise at being stupid enough to market Louisiana, thus losing the opportunity to make French the global language, while taking place strike is the second national involvement sport after pétanque. He also illuminates ways to get most effective out of the grumpiest Parisian waiter, how to survive a French business conference, and exactly how not to purchase a residence in the French countryside.

The author originally wrote A YEAR IN THE MERDE simply for fun and self-published it in France in an British language edition. Weeks later on, it had turn into a word-of-mouth strike for expats and the French alike, even outselling Bill Clinton’s memoir at Paris’s fabled American bookstore Brentano’s. With translation privileges now bought from eleven countries, Stephen Clarke is clearly a Costs Bryson (or a Peter Mayle…) for a complete new era of visitors who can’t ever quite decide if they love-or want to hate-the French.