“ Jean-Marie did the hugest shrug I’d ever seen, even outdoing the man in the electric shop. Some memorable lines from the book include: It’s told from an Anglo perspective, and it’s particularly funny if you’ve lived in Paris for any period of time because the jokes hit on the realities of everyday life. So, Stephen Clarke, the author, invented this fictional Paul West character who comes to Paris for a job and gets caught in the life of apartments, work, and love. “ C’est vrai?” I asked him, left eyebrow raised. Another time, while I was buying groceries at Franprix, I noticed that the checkout guy started to giggle quietly because he saw the book under my arm. One time I almost choked on my tongue while reading in the metro because I was laughing so hard. It was, as he had warned me, absolutely hilarious. “Oh, you must read it! It is soooo funny! And it’s true!” Julien is a great guy - a real Anglophile to boot - though he insists that when we go on ski trips I only speak French - so I gave his recommendation its due importance and in time purchased and read the book.
“Stefan,” (this is how the French pronounce my name), “Stefan, do you know zis booke, ah, a year in dee Merde?” I nodded that I had vaguely heard of it, but not much more. I had just gone to an Asterix exposition at the ugly BNF (Bibliotheque Francois Mitterand), with my friend Julien, who I had met in Adelaide, Australia, a year earlier (a story for another time). I read a lot of books about Paris and France before moving here and I’ve only recently realized I might do well to share them with you.
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