Something to Declare: Essays on France and French Culture
Novelist Barnes's latest collection of haute musings on France  and things French is rather like a ride in a creaky Citro n: at  first, it kicks and gurgles in a scattered path, but once it  gets started, it's a charming and nostalgic way to view la belle  France. Barnes, author of nine novels (Love, Etc., etc.), a book  of stories and a collection of essays, offers here an  amalgamation of pieces, many previously published in the Times  Literary Supplement and the New York Review of Books. The  collection begins with meandering yet tellingly accurate  critiques of popular culture phenomena, such as the Tour de  France, the films of Truffaut and Godard, and singer Jacques  Brel. Barnes's assessment of culinary writer Elizabeth David's  thoughts on nouvelle cuisine (it means "lighter food, less of  it, costing more") are at once witty and dead-on. After sharing  these lighter, whimsical thoughts, Barnes shifts into a higher  gear and delves into a study of the French and Francophile  literary establishment, from Edith Wharton and Ford Madox Ford  to Henry James and George Sand. He saves many of the book's  later chapters for his favorite subject, Gustave Flaubert.  Throughout, Barnes integrates his commentary with detailed,  intriguing bits of history. Devotees of Madame Bovary will  thrill to read his ruminations on the masterpiece (e.g., what if  it had been written for the screen rather than as a book?).  Serious yet self-deprecating, Barnes's prose is perfectly tuned  to its subject. Photos not seen by PW. (Oct. 7)Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.