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Topic: A Year in the Merde

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	A Year in the Merde - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		A Year in the Merde is a comic novel by Stephen Clarke first published in 2004 under the pen name Paul West.
		Paul West is in fact the first-person narrator, a 27 year-old Englishman, single and unattached, who is recruited by a French entrepreneur and given a one-year contract to come to Paris to plan and organize a chain of tea rooms which his employer wants to open in the French capital.
		Set at the time of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, A Year in the Merde is about the cultural differences between the British and the French, which are somewhat heightened by the war, especially by the opposing views on the invasion held by Blair and Chirac respectively.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/A_Year_in_the_Merde (774 words)

	Alibris: Year
		Each day of the year is covered in an elegant two-page spread, in which icons and illustrations complement a detailed description of personality traits for people born on that day.
		A breakthrough book for men, "Younger Next Year" draws on the very latest science of aging to show how men 50 or older can become functionally younger every year for the next five to ten years, and continue to live like 50-year-olds until well into their 80s.
		Containing the complete text on baby's first year from "Caring for Your Baby and Young Child: Birth to Age 5", the guide that pediatricians most recommend, here is sound advice on everything from childbirth to breastfeeding to safety--plus a health encyclopedia covering injuries, illnesses, and disabilities.
	www.alibris.com /search/books/subject/Year (1330 words)

	YEAR IN THE MERDE - Stephen Clarke - Penguin Books
		This is when Parisians get back to their desks after their month-long holiday and begin working out where they’ll go for the mid-term break in November.
		Back in 1940 they tried to tell us they loved us, but we just laughed at their accents and their big-nosed Général de Gaulle, and ever since we’ve done nothing but poison them with our disgusting food and try to wipe the French language off the face of the earth.
		That’s why they build refugee camps yards from the Eurotunnel entrance and refuse to eat our beef years after it was declared safe.
	www.penguin.ca /nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780143051916,00.html (426 words)

	TIME Europe Magazine: A Literary Hoax-en-Paris -- September 20, 2004 \| Vol. 164, No. 11 (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-02)
		A Year in the Merde is a smarmy, amusing diary of a young Brit's first impressions of Paris.
		This success story is all absolutely true, except that Paul West is not in his 20s, did not arrive in Paris two years ago, launch any tea rooms or keep a diary.
		But Merde has a lively plot — West's French boss is up to no good — plus an element missing in many such tomes: sex.
	www.time.com /time/europe/magazine/printout/0,13155,695818,00.html (604 words)

	SIETAR Europa - the Society for intercultural education, training and research
		Paul’s professional focus is that of creating a commercially viable English Tea Room in the French capitol while privately shagging his way through diverse colors of Parisian womanhood, licking his wounds and drowning his sorrorws as needed in the local abundance of Irish pubs.
		A Year in the Merde is the story of the young expat’s acculturation first to a French enterprise and its ways told with a great deal of pokes and prods and more than touches of irony otherwise know as Brit wit.
		The undertow of Merde Actually is Paul’s search for true love and indeed he succeds in returing to his challenging ex-girlfriend Alex, a photographer artist who appeared in the first book.
	www.sietar-europa.org /bookreviews003.htm (731 words)

	A Year in the Merde - A Book Review
		A Rauncy Riposte to "A Year in Provence"
		At first blush it seems to be yet another of those memoirs (Peter Mayle's A Year in Provence, preeminent among them) that allow the reader the vicarious pleasure of living among the unfailingly charming, but inevitably infuriating French.
		Since A Year in the Merde seems neither fish nor fowl, fact nor fiction, I found myself taking everything in it with un soupcon de sel.
	www.intrepidtraveler.com /travels/merde.html (702 words)

	A Year in the Merde (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-02)
		An urban antidote to A Year in Provence, Stephen Clarke's book is a laugh-out-loud account of a year in the life of an expat in Paris-for Francophiles and Francophobes alike.
		A Year in the Merde is the almost-true account of the author's adventures as an expat in Paris.
		He soon becomes immersed in the contradictions of French culture: the French are not all cheese-eating surrender monkeys, though they do eat a lot of smelly cheese, and they are still in shock at being stupid enough to sell Louisiana, thus losing the chance to make French the global language.
	www.wanderingrogue.com /a-year-in-the-merde-1582345910.html (215 words)

	Domestic Adventure
		I could try to explain why Stephen Clarke's A Year in the Merde tickled me, while John Grogan's Marley and Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog didn't (it did make me cry, though), but in essence I would just be talking about myself, not the books.
		In A Year in the Merde, the writer recounts his abbreviated year of doing marketing work for a French fast-food company, and he never misses a chance, at least in the earlier part of the book, to make fun of the French.
		Early in the book, as in his marriage - the Grogans are both reporters working for different newspapers in the Palm Beach area - the author gives his wife a houseplant.
	www.portifex.com /ReadingMatter/DomesticAdventure.htm (1678 words)

	Stephen Clarke (writer) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		He spent several years working in Glasgow as a bilingual lexicographer for the dictionary firm HarperCollins.
		A Year in the Merde (its title an allusion to Peter Mayle's A Year in Provence) by Paul West (who is in fact the first person narrator of the novel).
		A sequel to A Year in the Merde, entitled Merde Actually (a reference to the romantic comedy Love Actually), was published in 2005.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Stephen_Clarke_(journalist_and_novelist) (367 words)

	Amazon.fr : A Year in the Merde: Livres en anglais: Stephen Clarke (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-02)
		Amazon.fr : A Year in the Merde: Livres en anglais: Stephen Clarke
		Take a self-assured Brit with an eye for the ladies, drop him in the middle of Paris with a tenuous grasp of the language and you have Clarke's alter ego, Paul West, who combines the gaffes of Bridget Jones with the boldness of James Bond.
		For me this was my saviour of my own year in the....some of the more minor things of french life have been captured in a way which makes you want to laugh out loud.
	www.amazon.fr /Year-Merde-Stephen-Clarke/dp/0552772968 (965 words)

	Amazon.ca: Year In The Merde: Books: Stephen Clarke (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-02)
		This surprise international bestseller is a sharp-tongued, funny account of a corporate-climbing Brit thrust deep into the MERDE of daily Parisian life.
		Though MERDE is not as funny as, say, Monty Python, it makes a pleasant fondue of humor and folly for the ear.
		A Year in the Merde had me laughing until the sides of my tummy hurt, it had me lusting after the character, after the city of Paris, it had me wishing I lived there, despite all the ridiculous hypocrisy, the childish strikes, the huffy crowds, the expensive cafes that are Paris.
	www.amazon.ca /Year-Merde-Stephen-Clarke/dp/0143051911 (545 words)

	A Year In The Merde by Stephen Clarke
		In A YEAR IN THE MERDE Stephen Clarke describes the French as they really are.
		Before A Year in the Merde, Stephen Clarke had never written anything longer than a report on British coffee-drinking habits.
		He turned the journal into a novel when Anglo-French relations were at their worst during the Iraq War of spring 2003.
	www.lovereading.co.uk /book/79 (230 words)

	A Year In The Merde
		Published privately by the author in English in Paris, A YEAR IN THE MERDE became an immediate local bestseller.
		Less quaint than A Year in Provence, less chocolatey than Chocolat, this book will tell you how to get the best of the grumpiest Parisian waiter, how to survive French meetings, how to make perfect vinaigrette every time, and how not to buy a house in the French countryside.
		Before A Year in the Merde, Stephen had never written anything longer than a report on British coffee-drinking habits.
	www.booksattransworld.co.uk /year_in_the_merde/home.htm (372 words)

	Books \| Merde turns to gold
		Within a few weeks, however, his parodic novel A Year in the Merde, would become a word-of-mouth must-have for le tout Paris.
		Hyped as an urban antidote to Peter Mayle's romanticised bestseller A Year in Provence, Clarke says he wanted to show the French as they really are, through the eyes of a 27-year-old quintessentially British lad, "a cross between Hugh Grant and David Beckham", hired to open a tea-room in Paris.
		In a male Bridget-Jones-diary format, the book recounts everything from the perils of slippery dog poo (650 Parisians hospitalised per year) to a deconstruction of extravagant lingerie.
	books.guardian.co.uk /print/0,,4959238-99942,00.html (361 words)

	Englishman steps in it in France / Poisson out of water novel full of laughs and bed-hopping
		Stephen Clarke is acerbic, insulting, un-PC and mostly hilarious in his first novel, "A Year in the Merde." He doesn't gently point out French people's foibles and French culture's irritatingly inflexible customs and institutions, as Peter Mayle does in "A Year in Provence" and the other books in his franchise.
		The merde of the title is thus both literal and metaphorical.
		Clarke is a magazine editor in Paris, where he has lived for 10 years, so he has plenty of firsthand experience.
	sfgate.com /cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/05/15/RVG4UCL99K1.DTL (929 words)

	Amazon.co.uk: A Year in the Merde: Books: Stephen Clarke,Michael Praed (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-02)
		But 'A Year in the Merde' was a huge disappointment, focussing largely on the author's love life.
		Merde!: the Real French You Were Never Taught at School by Genevi eve
		The Complete Merde!: The Real French You Were Never Taught at School by "Genevieve"
	www.amazon.co.uk /Year-Merde-Stephen-Clarke/dp/1856868222 (791 words)

	July 2005 Issue #75 (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-02)
		A Year in the Merde will also tell readers how to survive a French business meeting and how not to buy a house in the French countryside.
		Throughout fifteen years of research he has asked: "What is the single most important insight about work that you want to pass on to your kids?" The responses were so powerful and dramatic that he began asking people to write them down and share them with loved ones.
		For example, John Ross, who presided over the Cherokee government for thirty-eight years during some of its darkest moments, is included, and appendices of all the chiefs of the Cherokee Nation, of the Western Cherokees, the Texas Cherokees, the Eastern rand, and the United Keetoowah Band provide historical reference.
	www.sirreadalot.org /issues/backissues/0075.htm (14143 words)

	Table of contents for A year in the merde (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-02)
		Table of contents for A year in the merde / by Stephen Clarke.
		OCTOBRE: One Foot in the Merde I visit different parts of Paris, touristy and less so, treading in plenty of dog-poop, literal and metaphorical.
		MAI: 1968 and All That With countless long weekends, holiday allowances to be used up, and the inevitable strikes, the French know that if you haven't finished your year's work by May 1, you're in the merde.
	www.loc.gov /catdir/toc/ecip056/2005000978.html (304 words)

	A year in the merde - :: StefieGraFie :: (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-02)
		Et enfin, les merdes de chiens qui jonchent les trottoirs parisiens, à tel point qu'il met des sacs poubelles autours de ses chaussures avant d'aller prendre le métro le matin.
		Sir, I would like to congratulate you for the novel you wrote: A year in the Merde.
		I am French but loved both A Year In Merde and Merde Actually, and can't wait for the follow-ups, keep them coming Paul, I mean Stephen!!!
	blog.stefie.net /index/2005/04/15/24-a-year-in-the-merde (1382 words)

	Yorkshire Soul
		An almost true account of a young middle managers working year in Paris, it is hilarious, to the point of Bryson/Pratchett laughing out loud on public transport funny.
		There are elements of Tom Sharpe running through the book, especially in the wonderful twist of fortunes at the end.
		A second installment of Paul's adventures is on the way, Merde Actually should be on the shelves later this year, I will definitely be grabbing a copy.
	www.yorkshiresoul.org /2005/04/book-review-year-in-merde-stephen.html (564 words)

	Travel to Europe - A Year in the Merde (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-02)
		Travel to Europe - A Year in the Merde
		"A Year in Merde" is a kind of response to romanticized views of France such as "A Year in Provence.
		Our hero, Paul West, is an Englishman who is hired by a French company, allegedly to bring ideas about English tearooms to the French marketplace.
	www.travel-helper.com /to/europe/A-Year-in-the-Merde.shtml (917 words)

	Reds Independent.com - The Online Voice of the Fans
		Through the eyes of the main protagonist, Paul West, Stephen Clarke tells us the story of an Englishman in Paris.
		It is based on his own experiences as a journalist over 10 years and believe me, I have a lot of respect for him if a lot of it is direct experience.
		However though his adventures are completely off the wall, because of the French people's reputation for being aloof, we are prepared to take his word for it a lot easier.
	www.redsindependent.com /merde.htm (209 words)

	Bored of Studies - A Year in Merde
		Bored of Studies - A Year in Merde
		It's a novel about this British guy who spent a year working in France.
		If I am right, the title's a play on another novel A Year in Provence.
	community.boredofstudies.org /201/reading-room/54633/year-merde/print.html (110 words)

	Books
		Based on the authors' experience hosting groups in the village of Lourmarin for five years, this guidebook contains back-road itineraries in the Luberon region and beyond, suggested walking tours and a restaurant guide.
		Yvone Lenard, is a collections of tales from a French/American couple who bought a house in the Vaucluse some twenty years ago.
		No woeful accounts of house repairs (they had the house restored in their absence!), but a charming view of the vagaries of life in Provence.
	www.aboutprovence.com /books.htm (1019 words)

	Best Sellers from Book Megastore (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-02)
		By offering practitioners working in a variety of early years settings the opportunity to develop their knowledge, understanding and skills, this book builds on the increased government interest in and support for early years provision.
		Year in the Merde, NEW ED by Stephen Clarke
		Years of the Weimar Republic and the Third Reich, by David Evans
	www.cd.edirectory.co.uk /book_megastore/s/2239/best+sellers+234404p62.html (2990 words)

	Deutsches Ärzteblatt: Foren "Arbeiten in Frankreich"
		Steven Clarke - A year in the merde.
		An urban antidote to A Year in Provence, Stephen Clarke's book is a laugh-
		A Year in the Merde is the almost-true account of the author's adventures as
	www.aerzteblatt.de /v4/foren/beitrag.asp?id=57665 (398 words)

	Amazon.com: A Year in the Merde: Books: Stephen Clarke (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-02)
		As someone who lived for a year in France as an exchange student this book brought back memories of how it was to discover France and french culture.
		During this year he explores french culture and describes his experience one month at a time.
		The author is extremely witty without taking it too far and manages to point out some striking differences between english culture and the french one without sounding condescending.
	www.amazon.com /gp/product/1582346178 (1865 words)

	J a y's Page on 1UP.com
		By the time all three systems have come out this generation, it's interesting to note all three systems can be viewed as having vastly different control schemes.
		In no other time in the past 20 years have controllers diverged this much in the same generation, I think.
		The 360 controller is holding down the fort with traditional button controllers, the Wii is doing a little throwback to simpler times with motion-sensing controllers, and the Sixaxis is almost trying to be a happy middle between the two schemes.
	www.1up.com /do/my1Up?publicUserId=5536703 (2969 words)

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