Review - A Year in the Merde

Stephen Clarke, the author of the book ‘A Year in the Merde’ tells the story of a 27 years old British entrepreneur, Paul West, who comes to Paris in order to help a French company to open and promote English ‘tea rooms’ in France. Without speaking any French, West tries to manage his life in the city of love and that being British isn’t really a blessing there. At work most of his colleagues are ‘friendly’ but two faced, especially his boss Jean-Marie Martin, the person who West likes most when he starts working there. Only when Martin tries to persuade him to buy a suspiciously cheap cottage in the French countryside, does West realise that he is a man who is up to every evil trick and not the friendly French guy he thought he was going to be. Step by step, West gets the feeling that French people literally hate him because of his origin and feels to a greater or lesser extent like a pariah, particularly during the tense period as the Iraqi War knocks on the door.

Clarke is a British journalist and writer working for a French press group in Paris. A Year in the Merde is an ‘almost’ true story which tells things that may or may not have happened to him during the last 10 years he lived in France. The book was originally published in an edition of only 200 copies and was supposed to be sold on his website. However, after a reading in a Canadian bookshop in Paris the book turned into a surprise hit with fabulous reviews by The Times and The Mirror.

To sum up, although this book is written in basic English it is rich in great common vocabulary. It is very easy to follow and filled with Clarke’s great sense of humour. I personally would recommend it to those readers who enjoy reading funny books or to those who want to learn more about France and the French people, from the perspective of an ‘outsider’.