Merde Happens » (Reprint)

Stephen Clarke is a British journalist and the internationally bestselling author of A Year in the Merde and In the Merde for Love, which describe the misadventures of Paul West in France, and Talk to the Snail, a hysterical look at understanding the French. He himself has lived in France for twelve years.

“Clarke works his humor in a frantic, colorful choreography of mayhem, like Busby Berkeley conducting Harold Lloyd. Amusing travelogue from an engaging narrator who never lets a little bad news mess with his joie de vivre.”—Kirkus Reviews

In the acclaimed third book in the popular Merde series, Paul West winds up stuck in America, chin-deep in financial trouble. He and his French girlfriend set off on their journey, with hopes of escaping fiscal ruin. But as the not-so-dynamic duo stumble toward Los Angeles, via Boston, Miami, New Orleans, and Las Vegas, Paul’s plans for success, of course, turn to merde: the couple takes on carjackers, old flames, and liaisons dangereuses. The result is a madcap, hilarious adventure and a sardonically witty tour through America, France, and England.

Publishers Weekly

In this entertaining third installment to his Paul West series, British journalist Clarke sets his acerbic sights on America. Paul, an ex-pat Brit running a tearoom in Paris, commits a grievous crime when he presents English menus at his tearoom. The Ministry of Culture slaps him with a massive fine, and a broke Paul returns to London and accepts a position with Visitor Resources: Britain to represent his home country in a global tourism contest. So, with his Parisian girlfriend in tow, Paul heads for America, picks up an embarrassingly decorated Mini Cooper in New York and heads to Boston, Miami, New Orleans, Las Vegas and Los Angeles in an effort to win the prize. Trouble follows, of course, and what makes the transcontinental romp so much fun is Clarke's sarcastic sendup of each city, embellishing the traditional stereotypes of each with a dry, jaded Brit wit. (The magazines found in a Louisiana home include "Sniper's Gazette, Drive-by Weekly, Firing Squad Monthly. Standard stuff.") Peripheral characters add even more color to the madcap story, and while not all of Clarke's stabs at the states hit their marks, the ones that do are sublime. (May)

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