num_pages: 383
description: Paul West, a young Englishman, arrives in Paris to start a new job - and finds out what the French are really like. They do eat a lot of cheese, some of which smells like pigs' droppings. They don't wash their armpits with garlic soap. Going on strike really is the second national participation sport after pétanque. And, yes, they do use suppositories.In his first novel, Stephen Clarke gives a laugh-out-loud account of the pleasures and perils of being a Brit in France. Less quaint than A Year in Provence, less chocolatey than Chocolat, 
  A Year in the Merde
 will tell you how to get served by the grumpiest Parisian waiter; how to make perfect vinaigrette every time; how to make amour - not war; and how not to buy a house in the French countryside.
language: English
title: A Year in the Merde
titlecomplete: A Year in the Merde
characters: Paul West
genres: Fiction, France, British Literature, Comedy, Humor, Adult, Novels, Travel, Contemporary, Audiobook
ratings_count: 15559
places: Paris
series: Paul West
publisher: Black Swan Books