Product Description

A year after arriving in France, Englishman Paul West is still struggling with some fundamental questions: What is the best way to scare a gendarme? Why are there no health warnings on French nudist beaches? And is it really polite to sleep with your boss' mistress? Paul opens his English tea room, and mutates (temporarily) into a Parisian waiter; samples the pleasures of typically French hotel-room afternoons; 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. But will Paul find l'amour eternel, or will it all end in merde? In his second comedy of errors, Paul West continues to sabotage the entente cordiale. Author's apology: "I'd just like to say sorry to all the suppository fans out there, because in this book there are no suppositories. There are, however, lots of courgettes, and I see this as progress. Suppositories to courgettes - I think it proves that I'm developing as a writer." Stephen Clarke.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12804 in Books
• Published on: 2006-04-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 448 pages

Review
"'Edgier than Bryson, hits harder than Mayle' The Times"

From the Back Cover
‘Edgier than Bryson, hits harder than Mayle’
The Times

A year after arriving in France, Englishman Paul West is still struggling with some fundamental questions:

What is the best way to scare a gendarme? Why are there no health warnings on French nudist beaches? And is it really polite to sleep with your boss’s mistress?

Paul opens his English tea room, and mutates (temporarily) into a Parisian waiter; samples the pleasures of typically French hotel-room afternoons; 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. But will Paul find l’amour éternel, or will it all end in merde?


MERDE ACTUALLY
In his second comedy of errors, Paul West continues to sabotage the entente cordiale.

About the Author
Stephen Clarke lives in France. He has experimented with Gauloises, petanque and suppositories, but only as research for his writing. He likes to spend his free time sitting on cafe terraces trying to think up a clever answer to the question, 'Did those things in your books really happen?' His first book, A Year in the Merde, which introduced Paul West, was first self-published in 2004 in Paris where it became a word-of-mouth bestseller, and has now been translated into fourteen languages, including French.

Customer Reviews

I laughed out loud!
I was given this book after running out of good books when working in France. I just couldn't put it down. With it's likeable characters and very funny scenarios, it's a very easy holiday read,especially when in France. Going through the same as Paul West and having to visit a french doctor. Being given a nearly A4 size prescription with about 10 things on it for a throat infection; and realising, as the character did, that there is pharmacy on nearly every street corner, had me in stitches. If you want a laugh out loud, can't put it down read, but not all this girlie relationship fiction, then this is your book.

Not merde at all...
I read the first book featuring "Pol Wess" and it was great, although not nearly as funny as this one. I bought it at the airport to take on holiday with me and I laughed out loud so many times that by a couple of days in my boyfriend was keen to read it after me! A really entertaining read that you can easily pick up and put down at any point without losing the thread and a good series of observations on how it feels to try and really fit into French culture when you're really a bit of a Brit through and through!
Good Stuff, definitely reccommend it, and anyone who has ever lived in France will love it. So many "I know exactly what he's talking about" moments it's hilarious!

Funnier than the first one
I read this book today, after hauling it halfway around the world to read. I'm an English woman in China and though the coutries are different, the insight and entertainment's the same.

I preferred Merde Actually to A Year in the Merde because he develops the storyline between two characters as well as continues to make readers chuckle out loud in airports, train stations and bus stations around the world. Especially loved the Da Vinci bit, and the dancing bit, and the politics bit, and the getting caught with the pants down bit, and, well I'm sure you get the point.